Plant diversity positively affects short‐term soil carbon storage in experimental grasslands

Steinbeiss, Sibylle; Beßler, Holger; Engels, Christof; Temperton, Vicky M.; Buchmann, Nina; Roscher, Christiane; Kreutziger, Yvonne; Baade, Jussi; Habekost, Maike; Gleixner, Gerd

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2008.01697.x

Cited by 311 publications

(252 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…In contrast, the positive plant diversity effect on soil carbon storage (Table 1), root biomass 39 and soil microbial biomass 40 was also found for deeper soil layers in The Jena Experiment. Despite the consistency of the plant diversity effect, it may be strongest in the topsoil and decrease with soil depth 25,39 , which may be due to the fact that root carbon inputs 24,39 and microbial activity 41 decrease with soil depth. Therefore, the mechanism proposed for the topsoil is very likely to also be relevant for deeper soil layers, but the decreased biological activity at the deeper soil layers has to be taken into account.…”

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confidence: 92%

“…Alternatively or in parallel, higher amounts of plant residue inputs could enhance carbon storage through increased microbial necromass accumulation over time 23 . Therefore, although soil carbon storage increased with plant diversity in a number of long-term grassland experiments 24,25 , the underlying mechanisms are yet to be understood.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Soil sampling was performed before sowing in April 2002 and was repeated in April in the years 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2011, as described in more detail in ref. 25. In short, three soil samples were taken per plot (4.8 cm in diameter, 0-30 cm deep) using a split tube sampler (Eijkelkamp Agrisearch Equipment, Giesbeek, the Netherlands).…”

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Plant diversity increases soil microbial activity and soil carbon storage

et al. 2015

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Plant diversity strongly influences ecosystem functions and services, such as soil carbon storage. However, the mechanisms underlying the positive plant diversity effects on soil carbon storage are poorly understood. We explored this relationship using long-term data from a grassland biodiversity experiment (The Jena Experiment) and radiocarbon (14C) modelling. Here we show that higher plant diversity increases rhizosphere carbon inputs into the microbial community resulting in both increased microbial activity and carbon storage. Increases in soil carbon were related to the enhanced accumulation of recently fixed carbon in high-diversity plots, while plant diversity had less pronounced effects on the decomposition rate of existing carbon. The present study shows that elevated carbon storage at high plant diversity is a direct function of the soil microbial community, indicating that the increase in carbon storage is mainly limited by the integration of new carbon into soil and less by the decomposition of existing soil carbon

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Plant diversity increases soil microbial activity and soil carbon storage

et al. 2015

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“…Tree leaves, tree roots, and the herbaceous vegetation from the tree row have different C : N ratios, lignin, and cellulose contents than the crop residues. Recent studies showed that plant diversity had a positive impact on SOC storage (Lange et al, 2015;Steinbeiss et al, 2008). One of the hypotheses proposed by the authors is that diverse plant communities result in more active, more abundant, and more diverse microbial communities, increasing microbial products that can potentially be stabilized.…”

Section: Higher Oc Inputs or A Different Quality Of Oc?mentioning

confidence: 99%

High organic inputs explain shallow and deep SOC storage in a long-term agroforestry system – combining experimental and modeling approaches

et al. 2018

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Abstract. Agroforestry is an increasingly popular farming system enabling agricultural diversification and providing several ecosystem services. In agroforestry systems, soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks are generally increased, but it is difficult to disentangle the different factors responsible for this storage. Organic carbon (OC) inputs to the soil may be larger, but SOC decomposition rates may be modified owing to microclimate, physical protection, or priming effect from roots, especially at depth. We used an 18-year-old silvoarable system associating hybrid walnut trees (Juglans regia × nigra) and durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. subsp. durum) and an adjacent agricultural control plot to quantify all OC inputs to the soil -leaf litter, tree fine root senescence, crop residues, and tree row herbaceous vegetation -and measured SOC stocks down to 2 m of depth at varying distances from the trees. We then proposed a model that simulates SOC dynamics in agroforestry accounting for both the whole soil profile and the lateral spatial heterogeneity. The model was calibrated to the control plot only.Measured OC inputs to soil were increased by about 40 % (+ 1.11 t C ha −1 yr −1 ) down to 2 m of depth in the agroforestry plot compared to the control, resulting in an additional SOC stock of 6.3 t C ha −1 down to 1 m of depth. However, most of the SOC storage occurred in the first 30 cm of soil and in the tree rows. The model was strongly validated, properly describing the measured SOC stocks and distribution with depth in agroforestry tree rows and alleys. It showed that the increased inputs of fresh biomass to soil explained the observed additional SOC storage in the agroforestry plot. Moreover, only a priming effect variant of the model was able to capture the depth distribution of SOC stocks, suggesting the priming effect as a possible mechanism driving deep SOC dynamics. This result questions the potential of soils to store large amounts of carbon, especially at depth. Deep-rooted trees modify OC inputs to soil, a process that deserves further study given its potential effects on SOC dynamics.

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“…Root-derived C is thought to be the main and the most stable source of SOC in grasslands, and belowground litter and productivity, and C stocks are more important for C sequestration (Steinbeiss et al, 2008a(Steinbeiss et al, , 2008b. The SOC stock belowground at a soil depth of 15 cm was 3619 g C m −2 in the GfGP grassland, and was considerably greater than that in the corresponding cropland (2902 g C m −2 ) but less than in the natural grassland (4779 g C m −2 ; Tables 1 and 2), which highlights the benefits of the GfGP for grassland C sequestration.…”

Section: Effects Of the Gfgp On C Stocksmentioning

confidence: 99%