Organic C and N stabilization in a forest soil: Evidence from sequential density fractionation

Sollins, Phillip; Swanston, Christopher W.; Kleber, Markus; Filley, Timothy R.; Kramer, Marc G.; Crow, Susan E.; Caldwell, Bruce A.; Lajtha, Kate; Bowden, Richard D.

doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2006.04.014

Cited by 399 publications

(315 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…The small differences in 14 C concentration of the density fractions from the arable soil at Rotthalmünster corresponds to results of Baisden et al (2002) for grassland soils yielding negligible differences in 14 C-based mean residence time of OM in density fractions. Sollins et al (2006), on the other hand, found decreasing 14 C concentrations with increasing density of OM fractions from a forest soil suggesting a higher stability of mineral-associated OM.…”

Section: Physical Som Fractionsmentioning

confidence: 81%

“…Early studies of litter decomposition showed that lignin content was inversely related to mass loss (Williams and Gray, 1974). However, several recent studies have shown, that a selective preservation of lignin appears to be only relevant during the early stages of litter decomposition and that later-on lignin degradation occurs at the same or even higher rate as the overall litter decomposition (Gleixner et al, 1999;Kerem et al, 1999;Jensen et al, 2005;Prescott, 2005;Kalbitz et al, 2006;Sollins et al, 2006). Recent studies using 13 C-CPMAS-NMR and pyrolysis techniques have confirmed that lignin is altered relatively quickly and does not appear to be stabilized in the long-term in any soil fraction (Baldock and Nelson, 2000;Gleixner et al, 2002;Kiem and Kögel-Knabner, 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How relevant is recalcitrance for the stabilization of organic matter in soils?

Marschner

Brodowski

Dreves

et al. 2008

Z. Pflanzenernähr. Bodenk.

637

359

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Traditionally, the selective preservation of certain recalcitrant organic compounds and the formation of recalcitrant humic substances have been regarded as an important mechanism for soil organic matter (SOM) stabilization. Based on a critical overview of available methods and on results from a cooperative research program, this paper evaluates how relevant recalcitrance is for the long-term stabilization of SOM or its fractions. Methodologically, recalcitrance is difficult to assess, since the persistence of certain SOM fractions or specific compounds may also be caused by other stabilization mechanisms, such as physical protection or chemical interactions with mineral surfaces. If only free particulate SOM obtained from density fractionation is considered, it rarely reaches ages exceeding 50 y. Older light particles have often been identified as charred plant residues or as fossil C. The degradability of the readily bioavailable dissolved or water-extractable OM fraction is often negatively correlated with its content in aromatic compounds, which therefore has been associated with recalcitrance. But in subsoils, dissolved organic matter aromaticity and biodegradability both are very low, indicating that other factors or compounds limit its degradation. Among the investigated specific compounds, lignin, lipids, and their derivatives have mean turnover times faster or similar as that of bulk SOM. Only a small fraction of the lignin inputs seems to persist in soils and is mainly found in the fine textural size fraction (<20 lm), indicating physico-chemical stabilization. Compound-specific analysis of 13 C : 12 C ratios of SOM pyrolysis products in soils with C3-C4 crop changes revealed no compounds with mean residence times of > 40-50 y, unless fossil C was present in substantial amounts, as at a site exposed to lignite inputs in the past. Here, turnover of pyrolysis products seemed to be much longer, even for those attributed to carbohydrates or proteins. Apparently, fossil C from lignite coal is also utilized by soil organisms, which is further evidenced by low 14 C concentrations in microbial phospholipid fatty acids from this site. Also, black C from charred plant materials was susceptible to microbial degradation in a short-term (60 d) and a long-term (2 y) incubation

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Section: Physical Som Fractionsmentioning

confidence: 81%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How relevant is recalcitrance for the stabilization of organic matter in soils?

Marschner

Brodowski

Dreves

et al. 2008

Z. Pflanzenernähr. Bodenk.

637

359

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This is useful for studying very stable C pools in soils, since they reside long enough for significant decay of 14 C to occur. In this case, the more 14 C-depleted a soil fraction is, the slower the turnover of the C is (even if the soil fraction also contains some faster-cycling components; Mikutta et al 2006;Sollins et al 2006). …”

Section: Radiocarbonmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Radiocarbon measurements show that the occluded light fraction can have a slower turnover time than the heavy fraction (Rasmussen et al 2005;Swanston et al 2005). The heavy fraction can be further separated by increasing density, generally yielding older, but smaller, organomineral pools (Golchin et al 1994b;Sollins et al 2006). There is evidence that aggregate dispersion may redistribute C and N between fractions (Cambardella 1994;Baisden et al 2002), and some C and N (1-15%) is typically lost during these procedures (Swanston et al 2004;Crow et al 2007;Castanha et al 2008).…”

Section: Fractionation Of Soil Organic Mattermentioning

confidence: 99%

Storage and Turnover of Organic Matter in Soil

Torn

Swanston

Castanha

et al. 2009

Biophysico‐Chemical Processes Involving Natural Nonliving Organic Matter in Environmental Systems

133

110

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“…25 which support a general pattern of an increase in extent of microbial processing with increasing organo-mineral particle density. 26 However, unlike the previous study, both SOM and mineral compounds were observed directly from the sample surface, and not with a chemical extraction method, hence allowing us to trace both SOM and mineral compounds on the same surface. We 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 13 point out that by rastering the sample stage, it would even be possible to obtain location specific information (i.e., imaging mass spectroscopy) to test hypotheses regarding the site dependency of interactions between organic and mineral phases.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 87%

Synchrotron-Based Mass Spectrometry to Investigate the Molecular Properties of Mineral–Organic Associations

et al. 2013

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Soil organic matter (OM) is important because its decay drives life processes in the biosphere.Analysis of organic compounds in geological systems is difficult because of their intimate association with mineral surfaces. To date there is no procedure capable of quantitatively separating organic from mineral phases without creating artifacts or mass loss. Therefore, analytical techniques that can (a) generate information about both organic and mineral phases simultaneously and (b) allow the examination of predetermined high-interest regions of the sample as opposed to conventional bulk analytical techniques are valuable. Laser Desorption Synchrotron Postionization (synchrotron-LDPI) mass spectrometry is introduced as a novel analytical tool to characterize the molecular properties of organic compounds in mineral-organic samples from terrestrial systems, and it is demonstrated that when combined with Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS), can provide complementary information on mineral composition.Mass spectrometry along a decomposition gradient in density fractions, verifies the consistency of our results with bulk analytical techniques. We further demonstrate that by changing laser and photoionization energies, variations in molecular stability of organic compounds associated with mineral surfaces can be determined. The combination of synchrotron-LDPI and SIMS shows that the energetic conditions involved in desorption and ionization of organic matter may be a greater determinant of mass spectral signatures than the inherent molecular structure of the organic compounds investigated. The latter has implications for molecular models of natural organic matter that are based on mass spectrometric information.

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Organic C and N stabilization in a forest soil: Evidence from sequential density fractionation

Cited by 399 publications

References 70 publications

How relevant is recalcitrance for the stabilization of organic matter in soils?

How relevant is recalcitrance for the stabilization of organic matter in soils?

Storage and Turnover of Organic Matter in Soil

Synchrotron-Based Mass Spectrometry to Investigate the Molecular Properties of Mineral–Organic Associations

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