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Using a Soil Chronosequence to Identify Soil Fractions for Understanding and Modeling Soil Carbon Dynamics in New Zealand

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Christine A Prior ,
W Troy Baisden ,
Frank Bruhn  and
Jason C Neff
Christine A Prior*
Affiliation:
Rafter Radiocarbon Laboratory, National Isotope Centre, GNS Science, PO Box 31–312, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
W Troy Baisden
Affiliation:
National Isotope Centre, GNS Science, PO Box 31-312, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
Frank Bruhn
Affiliation:
National Isotope Centre, GNS Science, PO Box 31-312, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
Jason C Neff
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Campus Box 399, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA
*
Corresponding author. Email: c.prior@gns.cri.nz
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Abstract

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We are developing practical methodologies to characterize pool sizes and residence times for fractions of soil organic matter (SOM) using radiocarbon, with a particular focus on SOM in New Zealand pasture soils that responds to global change on decadal timescales. As single mean residence times for the entire SOM pool can be misleading or uninterpretable, we focus on the use of samples collected about 7 and 40 yr after the bomb14C spike to separate SOM into at least 2 pools. These results from a box model methodology yield sensible estimates of the proportion of “passive” SOM, and the residence time of the dominant pool with approximately decadal residence times. These results are supported by chemical analysis. Approximately 45-yr residence times of light-fraction SOM in a relatively infertile soil contrast with ∼16-yr residence times in a more fertile soil, and correspond to large differences in the proportion of lignin- and polysaccharide-derived SOM in these soils measured using pyrolysis-GC/MS. To achieve greater detail and assess the degree to which “active” SOM with annual turnover rates may bias results from the simple model, we use density as a means of isolating SOM with different degrees of mineral association. Initial results from grazed pasture soils sampled in 2003–4 emphasize that isolating non-mineral-associated light fractions can improve understanding, but may be less important than identifying fractions associated with unique mineralogy. In this soil, a fraction with density ≥2.55 g/mL shows much larger proportions of passive SOM than other fractions.

Information

Type
Articles
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 49 , Issue 2 , 2007 , pp. 1093 - 1102
Copyright
Copyright © 2007 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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