U.S. Department of EnergyOffice of Scientific and Technical Information
Organic carbon content and turnover time in relation to pedogenic iron and aluminum in four temperate forest soils sampled in 2007
Abstract
Soil organic carbon (SOC) can be stabilized via association with iron (Fe) and aluminum (Al) minerals. Fe and Al can be strong predictors of SOC storage and turnover in soils with relatively high extractable metals content and moderately acidic to circumneutral pH. Here we test whether pedogenic Fe and Al influence SOC content and turnover in soils with low Fe and Al content and acidic pH. In soils from four sites spanning three soil orders, we quantified the amount of Fe and Al in operationally-defined poorly crystalline and organically-complexed phases using selective chemical dissolution applied to the soil fraction containing mineral-associated carbon. We evaluated the correlations of Fe and Al concentrations, mean annual precipitation (MAP), mean annual temperature (MAT), and pH with SOC content and 14C-based turnover times. We found that poorly crystalline Fe and Al content predicted SOC turnover times (p < 0.0001) consistent with findings of previous studies, while organically-complexed Fe and Al content was a better predictor of SOC concentration (p < 0.0001). Greater site-level MAP (p < 0.0001) and colder site-level MAT (p < 0.0001) were correlated with longer SOC turnover times but were not correlated with SOC content. Our results suggest that poorly crystalline Femore »
- Authors:
-
;
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
- Dartmouth College
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Environmental System Science Data Infrastructure for a Virtual Ecosystem; Belowground Biogeochemistry Scientific Focus Area
- Sponsoring Org.:
- U.S. DOE > Office of Science > Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
- Subject:
- 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > SOILS; EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > SOILS > CARBON; EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > SOILS > ORGANIC MATTER; EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > SOILS > SOIL CHEMISTRY; EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > SOILS > SOIL MOISTURE/WATER CONTENT; EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > SOILS > SOIL PH; EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > SOILS > SOIL TEMPERATURE
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1898051
- DOI:
- https://doi.org/10.15485/1898051
Citation Formats
Porras, Rachel, Hicks Pries, Caitlin, and McFarlane, Karis. Organic carbon content and turnover time in relation to pedogenic iron and aluminum in four temperate forest soils sampled in 2007. United States: N. p., 2021.
Web. doi:10.15485/1898051.
Porras, Rachel, Hicks Pries, Caitlin, & McFarlane, Karis. Organic carbon content and turnover time in relation to pedogenic iron and aluminum in four temperate forest soils sampled in 2007. United States. doi:https://doi.org/10.15485/1898051
Porras, Rachel, Hicks Pries, Caitlin, and McFarlane, Karis. 2021.
"Organic carbon content and turnover time in relation to pedogenic iron and aluminum in four temperate forest soils sampled in 2007". United States. doi:https://doi.org/10.15485/1898051. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1898051. Pub date:Fri Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 2021
@article{osti_1898051,
title = {Organic carbon content and turnover time in relation to pedogenic iron and aluminum in four temperate forest soils sampled in 2007},
author = {Porras, Rachel and Hicks Pries, Caitlin and McFarlane, Karis},
abstractNote = {Soil organic carbon (SOC) can be stabilized via association with iron (Fe) and aluminum (Al) minerals. Fe and Al can be strong predictors of SOC storage and turnover in soils with relatively high extractable metals content and moderately acidic to circumneutral pH. Here we test whether pedogenic Fe and Al influence SOC content and turnover in soils with low Fe and Al content and acidic pH. In soils from four sites spanning three soil orders, we quantified the amount of Fe and Al in operationally-defined poorly crystalline and organically-complexed phases using selective chemical dissolution applied to the soil fraction containing mineral-associated carbon. We evaluated the correlations of Fe and Al concentrations, mean annual precipitation (MAP), mean annual temperature (MAT), and pH with SOC content and 14C-based turnover times. We found that poorly crystalline Fe and Al content predicted SOC turnover times (p < 0.0001) consistent with findings of previous studies, while organically-complexed Fe and Al content was a better predictor of SOC concentration (p < 0.0001). Greater site-level MAP (p < 0.0001) and colder site-level MAT (p < 0.0001) were correlated with longer SOC turnover times but were not correlated with SOC content. Our results suggest that poorly crystalline Fe and Al effectively slow the turnover of SOC in these acidic soils, even when their combined content in the soil is less than 2% by mass. However, in the strongly acidic Spodosol, organo-metal complexes tended to be less stable resulting in a more actively cycling mineral-associated SOC pool. We characterized mineralogy and carbon content in soils from four forested sites in the eastern deciduous forest zone that span three soil orders. Using selective chemical dissolution applied to the soil fraction containing mineral-associated carbon, we quantified the amount of Fe and Al in operationally-defined poorly crystalline and organically-complexed phases, and correlated these with previously published SOC content and 14C-based turnover times (McFarlane et al. 2013). This dataset comprises site characterization undertaken in 2007 (.png) and subsequent soil analyses (.csv containing C, Fe, Al, 14C-derived TurnoverTime) concluded in 2010.},
doi = {10.15485/1898051},
journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 2021},
month = {Fri Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 2021}
}