Dissolved organic matter leaching in some contrasting New Zealand pasture soils

Abstract

Leaching of dissolved organic matter (DOM) from pastoral soils is increasingly seen as an important but poorly understood process. This paper examined the relationship between soil chemical properties, microbial activity and the losses of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and nitrogen (DON) through leaching from six pasture soils. These soils differed in carbon (C) (4.6-14.9%) and nitrogen (N) (0.4-1.4%) contents and in the amount of organic C and N that had accumulated or been lost in the preceding 20+ years (i.e. −5131 to +1624 kg C ha −1 year −1 and −263 to +220 kg N ha −1 year −1 , respectively). The paper also examined whether between-soil-type differences in DOC and DON leaching was a major explanatory factor in the observed range of soil organic matter (SOM) changes in these soils. Between 280 and 1690 kg C ha −1 year −1 and 28-117 kg N ha −1 year −1 leached as DOC and DON, respectively, from the six soils in a lysimeter study, with losses being greater from two poorly drained gley soils. Losses of C and N of this magnitude, while at the upper end relative to published data, could not fully explain the losses at Rawerawe, Bruntwood and Lepperton sites reported by Schipper et al. (2007). The study highlights the leaching of DOM as a significant pathway of loss of C and N in pasture soils that is often ignored or given little attention in predictive models and nutrient budgeting. Leaching losses of DOC and DON alone, or in combination with slightly increased respiration losses of SOM given a 0.2 • C increase in the mean annual soil temperature, do not fully explain long-term changes in the SOM observed at these sites. When soils examined in the present study were separated on the basis of drainage class, the losses of DOC by leaching were correlated with both total and hot-water extractable C (HWC), the latter being a measure of the labile SOM fraction. Basal microbial CO 2 respiration rates, which varied between 1 and 3.5 μg CO 2 -C g −1 soil hour −1 in surface soils (0-75-mm depth), was also linked to HWC and the quantities of C lost as DOC. Adoption of the HWC method as an approach that could be used as a proxy for the direct measurement of the soil organic C lost by leaching as DOC or respired needs to be examined further with a greater number of soils. In comparison, a poor relationship was found between the hot-water extractable N (HWN) and loss of DON by leaching, despite HWN previously being shown to be a measure of the mineralizable pool of N in soils, possibly reflecting the greater competition for N than C in these soils.

Effectiveness of a Natural Headwater Wetland for Reducing Agricultural Nitrogen Loads

“…The estimated load of TON exiting from our wetland was 6.5 kg, which equates to 1.3 kg ha −1 . This is lower than the median level reported by van Kessel [55] (4.0 kg N ha −1 year −1 ), and compared to dissolved organic N leaching rates measured in lowland pastoral soils elsewhere in New Zealand of 28-117 kg N ha −1 year −1 [57].…”

Soil organic carbon fraction losses upon continuous plow-based tillage and its restoration by diverse biomass-C inputs under no-till in sub-tropical and tropical regions of Brazil

“…Physical fractionation is a useful tool to provide a rough differentiation between active, intermediate and passive SOC pools, and also to assess the impact of soil management on dynamics (Cambardella and Elliott, 1994;Sá et al, 2001) and qualitative changes (Bayer et al, 2000). In addition, chemical methods are also used to isolate: (i) hot-water extractable organic C (HWEOC) representing the microbial C (Ghani et al, 2010) involved in aggregate stability (Haynes and Swift, 1990), (ii) acid hydrolysable total polysaccharides (TPS) which are the main binding agents involved in soil aggregation (Haynes and Francis, 1993;Tisdall and Oades, 1982), and (iii) a refractory C fraction obtained through oxidation with H 2 O 2 which oxidizes labile organic compounds but retains chemically stabilized organic C (CSOC) . A combination of physical and chemical methods can provide valuable information to fingerprint quantitative and qualitative changes in SOC pool due to land use and agricultural management.…”

Are horse paddocks threatening water quality through excess loading of nutrients?

“…Measurements of dissolved reactive P (DRP) or total P in leachate or runoff water have been used previously to quantify P losses from grazing pastures (Sharpley et al, 2001(Sharpley et al, , 2004Monaghan et al, 2002;Hart et al, 2004) and measurements of nitrateeN ðNO À 3 À NÞ, ammoniumeN ðNH þ 4 À NÞ and total N for estimation of N losses (Hooda et al, 2000;Monaghan et al, 2002;Airaksinen et al, 2007). Measurements of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in leachate water, together with P and N, have also been used to assess water quality in grazing systems (Fleming and Cox, 2001;McTiernan et al, 2001;Ghani et al, 2010).…”