Belowground allocation and dynamics of recently fixed plant carbon in a California annual grassland

Fossum, Christina; Estera-Molina, Katerina Y.; Yuan, Mengting; Herman, Donald J.; Chu-Jacoby, Ilexis; Nico, Peter S.; Morrison, Keith D.; Pett-Ridge, Jennifer; Firestone, Mary K.

doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2021.108519

Title: Belowground allocation and dynamics of recently fixed plant carbon in a California annual grassland

Journal Article · Sat Dec 11 00:00:00 UTC 2021 · Soil Biology and Biochemistry

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2021.108519 · OSTI ID:1867539

^[1];

^[1]; Herman, Donald J. ^[1]; Chu-Jacoby, Ilexis ^[1]; Nico, Peter S. ^[2];

^[3];

^[4]; Firestone, Mary K. ^[1]

University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); University of California, Merced, CA (United States)

Plant roots and the organisms that surround them are a primary source for stabilized soil organic carbon (SOC). While grassland soils have a large capacity to store organic carbon (C), few field-based studies have quantified the amount of plant-fixed C that moves into soil and persists belowground over multiple years. Yet this characteristic of the soil C cycle is critical to C storage, soil water holding capacity, nutrient provisions, and the management of soil health. Here, we tracked the fate of plant-fixed C following a five-day ¹³CO₂ labeling of a Northern California annual grassland, measuring C pools starting at the end of the labeling period, at three days, four weeks, six months, one year, and two years. Soil organic carbon was fractionated using a density-based approach to separate the free-light fraction (FLF), occluded-light fraction (OLF), and heavy fraction (HF). Using isotope ratio mass spectrometry, we measured ¹³C enrichment and total C content for plant shoots, roots, soil, soil dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and the FLF, OLF, and HF. The chemical nature of C in the HF was further analyzed by solid state ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy.

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Research Organization:: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231; AC52-07NA27344; SC0016247; SC0020163

OSTI ID:: 1867539

Report Number(s):: LLNL-JRNL-826199; 1040533

Journal Information:: Soil Biology and Biochemistry, Journal Name: Soil Biology and Biochemistry Vol. 165; ISSN 0038-0717

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Title: Belowground allocation and dynamics of recently fixed plant carbon in a California annual grassland

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