How Deep Is Soil?

Richter, Daniel; Markewitz, Daniel

doi:10.2307/1312764

Cited by 310 publications

(176 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…For example, 38% of total soil C was below 50 cm and 24.1% below 1 m in production forest soils in the Pacific Northwest [37]. The imprint of biological activity extends many meters into soil, even into the C horizon [38]. Globally, the average maximum rooting depth for trees is ~7 m [39], far outreaching even the deepest observations in this database.…”

Section: Depth Distribution Of Soil C Response To Harvestmentioning

confidence: 78%

The Effect of Harvest on Forest Soil Carbon: A Meta-Analysis

James

Harrison

2016

Forests

142

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Forest soils represent a substantial portion of the terrestrial carbon (C) pool, and changes to soil C cycling are globally significant not only for C sequestration but also for sustaining forest productivity and ecosystem services. To quantify the effect of harvesting on soil C, we used meta-analysis to examine a database of 945 responses to harvesting collected from 112 publications from around the world. Harvesting reduced soil C, on average, by 11.2% with 95% CI [14.1%, 8.5%].There was substantial variation between responses in different soil depths, with greatest losses occurring in the O horizon (−30.2%). Much smaller but still significant losses (−3.3%) occurred in top soil C pools (0-15 cm depth). In very deep soil (60-100+ cm), a significant loss of 17.7% of soil C in was observed after harvest. However, only 21 of the 945 total responses examined this depth, indicating a substantial need for more research in this area. The response of soil C to harvesting varies substantially between soil orders, with greater losses in Spodosol and Ultisol orders and less substantial losses in Alfisols and Andisols. Soil C takes several decades to recover following harvest, with Spodosol and Ultisol C recovering only after at least 75 years. The publications in this analysis were highly skewed toward surface sampling, with a maximum sampling depth of 36 cm, on average. Sampling deep soil represents one of the best opportunities to reduce uncertainty in the understanding of the response of soil C to forest harvest.

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Section: Depth Distribution Of Soil C Response To Harvestmentioning

confidence: 78%

The Effect of Harvest on Forest Soil Carbon: A Meta-Analysis

James

Harrison

2016

Forests

142

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“…biological data on the soils have been previously described (Richter et al 1994, Richter and Markewitz 1995, Callaham et al 2006. Human influences have been prominent in these soils, especially after about 1800 and the boom for cotton in South Carolina, when physical soil attributes made upland sites attractive for cultivation.…”

Section: The Calhoun Ecosystemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Four-Decade Responses of Soil Trace Elements to an Aggrading Old-Field Forest: B, Mn, Zn, Cu, and Fe

Richter²,

Mendoza

et al. 2008

Ecology

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Abstract. In the ancient and acidic Ultisol soils of the Southern Piedmont, USA, we studied changes in trace element biogeochemistry over four decades, a period during which formerly cultivated cotton fields were planted with pine seedlings that grew into mature forest stands. In 16 permanent plots, we estimated 40-year accumulations of trace elements in forest biomass and O horizons (between 1957 and 1997), and changes in bioavailable soil fractions indexed by extractions of 0.05 mol/L HCl and 0.2 mol/L acid ammonium oxalate (AAO). Element accumulations in 40-year tree biomass plus O horizons totaled 0.9, 2.9, 4.8, 49.6, and 501.3 kg/ha for Cu, B, Zn, Mn, and Fe, respectively. In response to this forest development, samples of the upper 0.6-m of mineral soil archived in 1962 and 1997 followed one of three patterns.(1) Extractable B and Mn were significantly depleted, by À4.1 and À57.7 kg/ha with AAO, depletions comparable to accumulations in biomass plus O horizons, 2.9 and 49.6 kg/ha, respectively. Tree uptake of B and Mn from mineral soil greatly outpaced resupplies from atmospheric deposition, mineral weathering, and deep-root uptake. (2) Extractable Zn and Cu changed little during forest growth, indicating that nutrient resupplies kept pace with accumulations by the aggrading forest. (3) Oxalate-extractable Fe increased substantially during forest growth, by 275.8 kg/ha, about 10-fold more than accumulations in tree biomass (28.7 kg/ha). The large increases in AAO-extractable Fe in surficial 0.35-m mineral soils were accompanied by substantial accretions of Fe in the forest's O horizon, by 473 kg/ha, amounts that dwarfed inputs via litterfall and canopy throughfall, indicating that forest Fe cycling is qualitatively different from that of other macro-and micronutrients. Bioturbation of surficial forest soil layers cannot account for these fractions and transformations of Fe, and we hypothesize that the secondary forest's large inputs of organic additions over four decades has fundamentally altered soil Fe oxides, potentially altering the bioavailability and retention of macro-and micronutrients, contaminants, and organic matter itself. The wide range of responses among the ecosystem's trace elements illustrates the great dynamics of the soil system over time scales of decades.

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“…considering the length of crop roots and water storage capacity. Soil depth affects the amount and variety of subsurface microbes, which play an important role in soil formation, ecosystem biogeochemistry, contaminant degradation, and the maintenance of groundwater quality (Richter andMarkewitz, 1995, Cuevas et al, 2014). On the other hand, soil depth, combined with soil porosity, defines the water storage capacity (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water and temperature dynamics of Aquands under different uses in southern Chile

Dec

Zúñiga

Thiers

et al. 2017

J. Soil Sci. Plant Nutr.

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Aquands are soils derived from holocenic volcanic ashes located in southern Chile. Due to the presence of very high levels of organic matter (30 %), these soils present a high total porosity (80 %) but at the same time, a limited water storage capacity due to their shallow soil depths. The aim of this work was to analyze the influence of land use change of a Duric Histic Placaquand (Ñadi) soil on soil physical properties and their consequences on water and temperature dynamics. The volumetric water content (θ Field ) and soil temperature (T) were registered at different depths in a Ñadi soil under a secondary native forest (sNF) and naturalized grassland (NG). Undisturbed soil samples were collected to analyze the water retention curve, saturated (Ks) and unsaturated (Ku) hydraulic conductivity and water repellency. The dynamics of rainfall and water table depth (WT) were registered using a rain gauge and groundwater wells. The land use change of a Ñadi soil from sNF to NG induced soil structural changes in the first 15 cm of soil reducing the amount of macropores under NG and affecting the hydraulic conductivity function as well as θ Field and T dynamics, i.e. while the WT in winter reached the soil surface in the NG, under sNF the air-filled pores were still present. Similarly, the T gradients increased as Ɵ Field decreased, being more intensive under NG. A nonhomogeneous soil wetting and water infiltration was assessed, which can be related to an increased spatial water repellency, soil hydraulic properties and rainfalls.

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How Deep Is Soil?

Cited by 310 publications

References 35 publications

The Effect of Harvest on Forest Soil Carbon: A Meta-Analysis

The Effect of Harvest on Forest Soil Carbon: A Meta-Analysis

Four-Decade Responses of Soil Trace Elements to an Aggrading Old-Field Forest: B, Mn, Zn, Cu, and Fe

Water and temperature dynamics of Aquands under different uses in southern Chile

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