Element interactions limit soil carbon storage.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: van Groenigen KJ
PROVIDER: S-EPMC1458924 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Similar Datasets
Project description:The replacement of native forests by tree plantations is increasingly common globally, especially in tropical and subtropical areas. Improving our understanding of the long-term effects of this replacement on soil organic carbon (SOC) remains paramount for effectively managing ecosystems to mitigate anthropogenic carbon emissions. Meta-analyses imply that native forest replacement usually reduces SOC stocks and may switch the forest from a net sink to a net source of atmospheric carbon. Using a long-term chronosequence during which areas of subtropical native forest were replaced by Chinese fir, we show by direct measurement that plantations have significantly accelerated SOC turnover compared with native forest, an effect that has persisted for almost a century. The immediate stimulation of SOC decomposition was caused by warmer soil before the closure of the plantation's canopy. Long-term reductions in SOC mean residence times were coupled to litter inputs. Faster SOC decomposition was associated with lower soil microbial carbon use efficiency, which was due to smaller litter inputs and reduced nutrient availabilities. Our results indicate a previously unelucidated control on long-term SOC dynamics in native forests and demonstrate a potential constraint on climate mitigation when such forests are replaced by plantations.
| S-EPMC4726314 | biostudies-other
Project description:Australia's "Direct Action" climate change policy relies on purchasing greenhouse gas abatement from projects undertaking approved abatement activities. Management of soil organic carbon (SOC) in agricultural soils is an approved activity, based on the expectation that land use change can deliver significant changes in SOC. However, there are concerns that climate, topography and soil texture will limit changes in SOC stocks. This work analyses data from 1482 sites surveyed across the major agricultural regions of Eastern Australia to determine the relative importance of land use vs. other drivers of SOC. Variation in land use explained only 1.4% of the total variation in SOC, with aridity and soil texture the main regulators of SOC stock under different land uses. Results suggest the greatest potential for increasing SOC stocks in Eastern Australian agricultural regions lies in converting from cropping to pasture on heavy textured soils in the humid regions.
| S-EPMC4671085 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Soils store more carbon than other terrestrial ecosystems1,2. How soil organic carbon (SOC) forms and persists remains uncertain1,3, which makes it challenging to understand how it will respond to climatic change3,4. It has been suggested that soil microorganisms play an important role in SOC formation, preservation and loss5-7. Although microorganisms affect the accumulation and loss of soil organic matter through many pathways4,6,8-11, microbial carbon use efficiency (CUE) is an integrative metric that can capture the balance of these processes12,13. Although CUE has the potential to act as a predictor of variation in SOC storage, the role of CUE in SOC persistence remains unresolved7,14,15. Here we examine the relationship between CUE and the preservation of SOC, and interactions with climate, vegetation and edaphic properties, using a combination of global-scale datasets, a microbial-process explicit model, data assimilation, deep learning and meta-analysis. We find that CUE is at least four times as important as other evaluated factors, such as carbon input, decomposition or vertical transport, in determining SOC storage and its spatial variation across the globe. In addition, CUE shows a positive correlation with SOC content. Our findings point to microbial CUE as a major determinant of global SOC storage. Understanding the microbial processes underlying CUE and their environmental dependence may help the prediction of SOC feedback to a changing climate.
| S-EPMC10307633 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Despite evidence from experimental grasslands that plant diversity increases biomass production and soil organic carbon (SOC) storage, it remains unclear whether this is true in natural ecosystems, especially under climatic variations and human disturbances. Based on field observations from 6,098 forest, shrubland, and grassland sites across China and predictions from an integrative model combining multiple theories, we systematically examined the direct effects of climate, soils, and human impacts on SOC storage versus the indirect effects mediated by species richness (SR), aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP), and belowground biomass (BB). We found that favorable climates (high temperature and precipitation) had a consistent negative effect on SOC storage in forests and shrublands, but not in grasslands. Climate favorability, particularly high precipitation, was associated with both higher SR and higher BB, which had consistent positive effects on SOC storage, thus offsetting the direct negative effect of favorable climate on SOC. The indirect effects of climate on SOC storage depended on the relationships of SR with ANPP and BB, which were consistently positive in all biome types. In addition, human disturbance and soil pH had both direct and indirect effects on SOC storage, with the indirect effects mediated by changes in SR, ANPP, and BB. High soil pH had a consistently negative effect on SOC storage. Our findings have important implications for improving global carbon cycling models and ecosystem management: Maintaining high levels of diversity can enhance soil carbon sequestration and help sustain the benefits of plant diversity and productivity.
| S-EPMC5910804 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Soil warming has the potential to alter both soil and plant processes that affect carbon storage in forest ecosystems. We have quantified these effects in a large, long-term (7-y) soil-warming study in a deciduous forest in New England. Soil warming has resulted in carbon losses from the soil and stimulated carbon gains in the woody tissue of trees. The warming-enhanced decay of soil organic matter also released enough additional inorganic nitrogen into the soil solution to support the observed increases in plant carbon storage. Although soil warming has resulted in a cumulative net loss of carbon from a New England forest relative to a control area over the 7-y study, the annual net losses generally decreased over time as plant carbon storage increased. In the seventh year, warming-induced soil carbon losses were almost totally compensated for by plant carbon gains in response to warming. We attribute the plant gains primarily to warming-induced increases in nitrogen availability. This study underscores the importance of incorporating carbon-nitrogen interactions in atmosphere-ocean-land earth system models to accurately simulate land feedbacks to the climate system.
| S-EPMC3111267 | biostudies-other
Project description:BackgroundComparisons of soil carbon (C) pools across land uses can be confounded by site-specific history. To better quantify the response of soil C pools to residential development and use, we compared yard soils (n?=?20) to adjacent mown fields and second-growth forests within land-use clusters (LUC; n?=?12). Land uses within clusters shared site-specific legacies (land use and other soil forming history) prior to residential development (15-227 years ago). We analyzed soil cores to 60-cm depth for carbon, nitrogen, and bulk density. Within one LUC, we monitored soil dissolved organic carbon, moisture, and thermal regimes to explain soil C dynamics.ResultsWe accounted for pre-development legacies to test how present uses affect soil properties. We found that yard soil C pools to 60-cm depth (9.07?±?0.32 kg C m-2; mean?±?SE) were smaller than fields (10.26?±?0.44 kg C m-2) and forests (10.62?±?0.87 kg C m-2). Fields contained more nitrogen to 60-cm depth (0.78?±?0.043 kg N m-2) than yards (0.68?±?0.030 kg N m-2) and forests (0.69?±?0.057 kg N m-2). Time since development predicted decreased yard and field soil C/N, field soil N accumulation, and reduced yard bulk density. In old yards (>?150 years), where residents in recent times mowed monthly to bimonthly and left clippings on the lawn, there was evidence of soil C and N gains relative to old commercially managed yards mown weekly with clippings exported.ConclusionsOur study suggests land conversion to yard can limit soil C pools for centuries, with contemporary management key to that trajectory. Our research points to the importance of accounting for pre-development legacies to reveal the response of soil properties to land conversion and present use. This work can inform policies and land use intended to enhance the soil C sink and minimize development-related soil C losses.
| S-EPMC7227114 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Agricultural and industrial activities have increased atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition to ecosystems worldwide. N deposition can stimulate plant growth and soil carbon (C) input, enhancing soil C storage. Changes in microbial decomposition could also influence soil C storage, yet this influence has been difficult to discern, partly because of the variable effects of added N on the microbial enzymes involved. We show, using meta-analysis, that added N reduced the activity of lignin-modifying enzymes (LMEs), and that this N-induced enzyme suppression was associated with increases in soil C. In contrast, N-induced changes in cellulase activity were unrelated to changes in soil C. Moreover, the effects of added soil N on LME activity accounted for more of the variation in responses of soil C than a wide range of other environmental and experimental factors. Our results suggest that, through responses of a single enzyme system to added N, soil microorganisms drive long-term changes in soil C accumulation. Incorporating this microbial influence on ecosystem biogeochemistry into Earth system models could improve predictions of ecosystem C dynamics.
| S-EPMC6105232 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Physical and chemical stabilisation mechanisms are now known to play a critical role in controlling carbon (C) storage in mineral soils, leading to suggestions that climate warming-induced C losses may be lower than previously predicted. By analysing > 9,000 soil profiles, here we show that, overall, C storage declines strongly with mean annual temperature. However, the reduction in C storage with temperature was more than three times greater in coarse-textured soils, with limited capacities for stabilising organic matter, than in fine-textured soils with greater stabilisation capacities. This pattern was observed independently in cool and warm regions, and after accounting for potentially confounding factors (plant productivity, precipitation, aridity, cation exchange capacity, and pH). The results could not, however, be represented by an established Earth system model (ESM). We conclude that warming will promote substantial soil C losses, but ESMs may not be predicting these losses accurately or which stocks are most vulnerable.
| S-EPMC8602258 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Manure application to agricultural soils is widely considered as a source of nutrients and a method of maintaining levels of soil organic carbon (SOC) to mitigate climate change. At present, it is still unclear which factors are responsible for the SOC stock dynamics. Therefore, we analyzed the relationship between SOC stock changes and site characteristics, soil properties, experiment characteristics and manure characteristics. Overall, we included 101 studies with a total of 592 treatments. On average, the application of manure on agricultural soils increased SOC stocks by 35.4%, corresponding to 10.7 Mg ha-1. Manure applications in conventional tillage systems led to higher SOC stocks (+ 2.2 Mg ha-1) than applications under reduced tillage. Soil organic carbon increase upon manure application was higher in soils under non-tropical climate conditions (+ 2.7 Mg ha-1) compared to soils under sub-tropical climate. Larger SOC increases after manure application were achieved in intermediate and shallow topsoils (in 0-15 cm by 9.5 Mg ha-1 and in 16-20 cm by 13.6 Mg ha-1), but SOC stocks were also increased in deeper soils (> 20 cm 4.6 Mg ha-1), regardless of the tillage intensity. The highest relative SOC increase (+ 48%) was achieved if the initial SOC was below 1% but the absolute SOC increased with increasing initial SOC. Clay soils showed higher SOC increase rates compared to sandy soils (+ 3.1 Mg ha-1). Acidic soils showed comparable relative effects but a higher stock difference than neutral (+ 5.1 Mg ha-1) and alkaline soils (+ 5.1 Mg ha-1). The application of farmyard-, cattle- and pig manure showed the highest SOC increases (50%, 32% and 41%, respectively), while green manure and straw showed only minor effects. If manure applications were combined with additional mineral fertilizer, the SOC increases were higher (+ 1.7 Mg ha-1) compared to manure alone. Higher applied amounts generally led to higher SOC stocks. However the annually applied amount is only important under conventional tillage, non-tropical climate conditions, and pH-neutral as well as SOC-rich or SOC-depleted soils and if no additional mineral fertilization is applied. Further studies should focus on the SOC dynamics under tropical climate conditions and factors influencing a potential carbon saturation. In both cases, the number of data was too small. For this reason, additional field studies should be conducted primarily in the tropics. On the other hand, long-term field trials should be re-assessed or newly established to specifically investigate potential saturation effects and long-term (> 20 years) fertilizer effects and carbon sequestration.
| S-EPMC7943820 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Mangrove forests have the potential to export carbon to adjacent ecosystems but whether mangrove-derived organic carbon (OC) would enhance the soil OC storage in seagrass meadows adjacent to mangroves is unclear. In this study we examine the potential for the contribution of mangrove OC to seagrass soils on the coast of North Sulawesi, Indonesia. We found that seagrass meadows adjacent to mangroves had significantly higher soil OC concentrations, soil OC with lower ? 13C, and lower bulk density than those at the non-mangrove adjacent meadows. Soil OC storage to 30?cm depth ranged from 3.21 to 6.82?kg?C m-2, and was also significantly higher at the mangrove adjacent meadows than those non-adjacent meadows. ?13C analyses revealed that mangrove OC contributed 34 to 83% to soil OC at the mangrove adjacent meadows. The ?13C value of seagrass plants was also different between the seagrasses adjacent to mangroves and those which were not, with lower values measured at the seagrasses adjacent to mangroves. Moreover, we found significant spatial variation in both soil OC concentration and storage, with values decreasing toward sea, and the contribution of mangrove-derived carbon also reduced with distance from the forest.
| S-EPMC5301194 | biostudies-literature