Litter decomposition rate and soil organic matter quality in a patchwork heathland of Southern Norway

Certini, Giacomo; Vestgarden, Live Semb; Forte, Claudia; Strand, Liv Inger

doi:10.5194/soild-1-267-2014

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…For heath soils, wide C/N ratio of >30 (Rowe et al ., ) or >20 (Certini et al ., ) has been observed. Wide C/N ratio is also common in peat soils (Aitkenhead & McDowell, ), but in cultivated peatlands, C/N ratio can decrease as a consequence of drainage and agricultural management (Krüger et al ., ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

“…Lower specific SOC mineralisation rates have been found in sandy historical heath soils with partly high groundwater levels in north‐west Germany than in reference Cambisols (Springob & Kirchmann, ). It has been shown that heath litter and SOC under heath vegetation contain high concentrations of alkyl C, mainly comprising lipids, waxes, resins and suberin, and have relatively high hydrophobicity index (Certini et al ., ), impeding microbial decomposition of the organic material (Bachmann et al ., ). Cropland soils on historical heath still contain large proportions of lipids, although they may be not as high as in permanent heath (Sleutel et al ., ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Deep ploughing increases agricultural soil organic matter stocks

Alcántara¹,

Don²,

Well³

et al. 2016

Global Change Biology

138

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Subsoils play an important role within the global C cycle, since they have high soil organic carbon (SOC) storage capacity due to generally low SOC concentrations. However, measures for enhancing SOC storage commonly focus on topsoils. This study assessed the long-term storage and stability of SOC in topsoils buried in arable subsoils by deep ploughing, a globally applied method for breaking up hard pans and improving soil structure to optimize crop growing conditions. One effect of deep ploughing is translocation of SOC formed near the surface into the subsoil, with concomitant mixing of SOC-poor subsoil material into the 'new' topsoil. Deep-ploughed croplands represent unique long-term in situ incubations of SOC-rich material in subsoils. In this study, we sampled five loamy and five sandy soils that were ploughed to 55-90 cm depth 35-50 years ago. Adjacent, similarly managed but conventionally ploughed subplots were sampled as reference. The deep-ploughed soils contained on average 42 ± 13% more SOC than the reference subplots. On average, 45 years after deep ploughing, the 'new' topsoil still contained 15% less SOC than the reference topsoil, indicating long-term SOC accumulation potential in the topsoil. In vitro incubation experiments on the buried sandy soils revealed 63 ± 6% lower potential SOC mineralisation rates and also 67 ± 2% lower SOC mineralisation per unit SOC in the buried topsoils than in the reference topsoils. Wider C/N ratio in the buried sandy topsoils than in the reference topsoils indicates that deep ploughing preserved SOC. The SOC mineralisation per unit SOC in the buried loamy topsoils was not significantly different from that in the reference topsoils. However, 56 ± 4% of the initial SOC was preserved in the buried topsoils. It can be concluded that deep ploughing contributes to SOC sequestration by enlarging the storage space for SOC-rich material.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deep ploughing increases agricultural soil organic matter stocks

Alcántara¹,

Don²,

Well³

et al. 2016

Global Change Biology

138

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…This study investigates rainfall‐triggered sediment reallocations to enable sustainable land management at catchment scale. However, the sedimentological response of a landscape is complex, because it depends on a variety of interacting physical processes, which are related to topography, climate, soil and vegetation among others (Martínez‐Mena et al, ; Cammeraat, ; Puigdefábregas, ; Bracken & Croke, ; Bautista et al, ; Bochet, ; Certini et al, ; Marchamalo et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sediment Reallocations due to Erosive Rainfall Events in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, Central China

et al. 2016

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Soil erosion by water outlines a major threat to the Three Gorges Reservoir Area in China. A detailed assessment of soil conservation measures requires a tool that spatially identifies sediment reallocations due to rainfall-runoff events in catchments. We applied EROSION 3D as a physically based soil erosion and deposition model in a small mountainous catchment. Generally, we aim to provide a methodological frame that facilitates the model parametrization in a data scarce environment and to identify sediment sources and deposits. We used digital soil mapping techniques to generate spatially distributed soil property information for parametrization. For model calibration and validation, we continuously monitored the catchment on rainfall, runoff and sediment yield for a period of 12 months. The model performed well for large events (sediment yield > 1 Mg) with an averaged individual model error of 7.5%, while small events showed an average error of 36.2%. We focused on the large events to evaluate reallocation patterns. Erosion occurred in 11.1% of the study area with an average erosion rate of 49.9 Mg ha À1 . Erosion mainly occurred on crop rotation areas with a spatial proportion of 69.2% for 'corn-rapeseed' and 69.1% for 'potato-cabbage'. Deposition occurred on 11.0%. Forested areas (9.7%), infrastructure (41.0%), cropland (corn-rapeseed: 13.6%, potatocabbage: 11.3%) and grassland (18.4%) were affected by deposition. Because the vast majority of annual sediment yields (80.3%) were associated to a few large erosive events, the modelling approach provides a useful tool to spatially assess soil erosion control and conservation measures.

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“…However, the human activities can be sustainable and some strategies as mulching, cash crops, low intensity grazing, or organic farming can help to achieve the sustainability (Costantini et al ., ; Li et al ., ; Lu et al ., ; Prosdocimi et al ., ). Hedgerows contribute to improve the land management as they imitate nature strategies such as the patchy or strip plant covers (Bochet, ; Cerdà, ; Certini et al ., ). They have been recognised as valuable habitats for a variety of wildlife as they provide refuge and food resources for many species, some of them threatened, or rare species of high conservation status (Dover & Sparks, ; Wilson, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the Role of a Protected Area on Hedgerow Conservation: The Case of a Spanish Cultural Landscape

et al. 2016

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Hedgerows are key features in agricultural landscapes performing diverse functions that are both economically and ecologically significant. Here, we quantify how the characteristics of a relict hedgerow network of a Spanish cultural landscape (Guadarrama mountains in the north of Madrid region) have changed over a single decade both inside and outside the boundaries of a Protected Area, the aim of which is to conserve cultural uses and biodiversity. A gradient of abandonment of pasture systems was detected, including a decline and loss of woody species from hedgerows associated with grazed areas towards shrub encroachment zones. These tendencies were similar inside and outside the boundaries of the Protected Area. The results highlight the management weaknesses of the Protected Area in order to achieve its objectives. Based on the results, we propose to include a specific conservation status for hedgerow landscapes in the regulatory framework of Spanish protected areas. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Litter decomposition rate and soil organic matter quality in a patchwork heathland of Southern Norway

Cited by 7 publications

References 51 publications

Deep ploughing increases agricultural soil organic matter stocks

Deep ploughing increases agricultural soil organic matter stocks

Sediment Reallocations due to Erosive Rainfall Events in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, Central China

Evaluating the Role of a Protected Area on Hedgerow Conservation: The Case of a Spanish Cultural Landscape

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