Soil Acidity and Exchange Properties of Cryogenic Soils in Arctic Alaska

Ping, Chien‐Lu; Michaelson, G. J.; Kimble, J. M.; Walker, Donald A.

doi:10.1111/j.1747-0765.2005.tb00083.x

Cited by 31 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Therefore, the fact that protein and charcoal concentrations increase concomitantly could be caused by a shared preservation mechanism (mineral adsorption or occlusion). However, this is unlikely because the incipient, loess-derived mineral soil of interior Alaska has few active clay minerals and nutrient retention and ion exchange capacity are more closely linked to SOC content (Van Cleve et al 1993;Ping et al 1995;Michaelson et al 2008). In this study, the relative increase in protein-C and N:C from organic to mineral soil horizons (Fig.…”

Section: Fire Frequency and Bc Accumulationmentioning

confidence: 72%

Topographic controls on black carbon accumulation in Alaskan black spruce forest soils: implications for organic matter dynamics

et al. 2010

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There is still much uncertainty as to how wildfire affects the accumulation of burn residues (such as black carbon (BC)) in the soil, and the corresponding changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) composition in boreal forests. We investigated SOC and BC composition in black spruce forests on different landscape positions in Alaska, USA. Mean BC stocks in surface mineral soils (0.34 ± 0.09 kg C m -2 ) were higher than in organic soils (0.17 ± 0.07 kg C m -2 ), as determined at four sites by three different 13 C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy-based techniques. Aromatic carbon, protein, BC, and the alkyl:O-alkyl carbon ratio were higher in mineral soil than in organic soil horizons. There was no trend between mineral soil BC stocks and fire frequencies estimated from lake sediment records at four sites, and soil BC was relatively modern (\54-400 years, based on mean D 14 C ranging from 95.1 to -54.7%). A more extensive analysis (90 soil profiles) of mineral soil BC revealed that interactions among landscape position, organic layer depth, and bulk density explained most of the variance in soil BC across sites, with less soil BC occurring in relatively cold forests with deeper organic layers. We suggest that shallower organic layer depths and higher bulk densities found in warmer boreal forests are more favorable for BC production in wildfire, and more BC is integrated with mineral soil than organic horizons. Soil BC content likely reflected more recent burning conditions influenced by topography, and implications of this for SOC composition (e.g., aromaticity and protein content) are discussed.

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Section: Fire Frequency and Bc Accumulationmentioning

confidence: 72%

Topographic controls on black carbon accumulation in Alaskan black spruce forest soils: implications for organic matter dynamics

et al. 2010

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“…Indeed, this is not surprising, because most clay minerals in Arctic tundra soils are inherent from the parent material rather than pedogenic (Borden et al, 2010). The lack of reactivity of these clay minerals was further demonstrated by the lack of correlation between clay content and cation exchange capacity (Ping et al, 2005b). More direct assessments of the potential decomposability of SOM have been made by measuring SOC mineralization in laboratory incubation studies (e.g., Michaelson and Ping, 2003;Lee et al, 2012;Elberling et al, 2013;Knoblauch et al, 2013).…”

Section: Characterization Of the Quality And Decomposability Of Organmentioning

confidence: 99%

Permafrost soils and carbon cycling

Ping

Jastrow

Jorgenson

et al. 2015

SOIL

268

188

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Abstract. Knowledge of soils in the permafrost region has advanced immensely in recent decades, despite the remoteness and inaccessibility of most of the region and the sampling limitations posed by the severe environment. These efforts significantly increased estimates of the amount of organic carbon stored in permafrost-region soils and improved understanding of how pedogenic processes unique to permafrost environments built enormous organic carbon stocks during the Quaternary. This knowledge has also called attention to the importance of permafrost-affected soils to the global carbon cycle and the potential vulnerability of the region's soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks to changing climatic conditions. In this review, we briefly introduce the permafrost characteristics, ice structures, and cryopedogenic processes that shape the development of permafrost-affected soils, and discuss their effects on soil structures and on organic matter distributions within the soil profile. We then examine the quantity of organic carbon stored in permafrost-region soils, as well as the characteristics, intrinsic decomposability, and potential vulnerability of this organic carbon to permafrost thaw under a warming climate. Overall, frozen conditions and cryopedogenic processes, such as cryoturbation, have slowed decomposition and enhanced the sequestration of organic carbon in permafrost-affected soils over millennial timescales. Due to the low temperatures, the organic matter in permafrost soils is often less humified than in more temperate soils, making some portion of this stored organic carbon relatively vulnerable to mineralization upon thawing of permafrost.

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“…The chemical and physical properties of the soils thus strongly reflect those of the parent material; this is true in both the High Arctic and the Low Arctic. In the Low Arctic, especially on the coastal plains of Alaska, the control of parent material on soils will interact with the controls of drainage and hydrology (Ping et al. , 1998; in press).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Colonization of wet soils by Sphagnum and other mosses changes the soil chemistry, hydrology and thermal regime of the soil, resulting in peat formation. The soils become acidic as a result of the organic acids contributed by the peat (Ping et al. , in press), and once mosses form thick carpets, the soil becomes well insulated, and cryoturbation and the depth of the active layer are generally reduced.…”

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confidence: 99%

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The nature of spatial transitions in the Arctic

Epstein

Beringer

Gould

et al. 2004

Journal of Biogeography

111

113

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Aim Describe the spatial and temporal properties of transitions in the Arctic and develop a conceptual understanding of the nature of these spatial transitions in the face of directional environmental change.Location Arctic tundra ecosystems of the North Slope of Alaska and the tundraforest region of the Seward Peninsula, AlaskaMethods We synthesize information from numerous studies on tundra and treeline ecosystems in an effort to document the spatial changes that occur across four arctic transitions. These transitions are: (i) the transition between High-Arctic and Low-Arctic systems, (ii) the transition between moist non-acidic tundra (MNT) and moist acidic tundra (MAT, also referred to as tussock tundra), (iii) the transition between tussock tundra and shrub tundra, (iv) the transition between tundra and forested systems. By documenting the nature of these spatial transitions, in terms of their environmental controls and vegetation patterns, we develop a conceptual model of temporal dynamics of arctic ecotones in response to environmental change.Results Our observations suggest that each transition is sensitive to a unique combination of controlling factors. The transition between High and Low Arctic is sensitive primarily to climate, whereas the MNT/MAT transition is also controlled by soil parent material, permafrost and hydrology. The tussock/shrub tundra transition appears to be responsive to several factors, including climate, topography and hydrology. Finally, the tundra/forest boundary responds primarily to climate and to climatically associated changes in permafrost. There were also important differences in the demography and distribution of the dominant plant species across the four vegetation transitions. The shrubs that characterize the tussock/shrub transition can achieve dominance potentially within a decade, whereas spruce trees often require several decades to centuries to achieve dominance within tundra, and Sphagnum moss colonization of non-acidic sites at the MNT/MAT boundary may require centuries to millennia of soil development.Main conclusions We suggest that vegetation will respond most rapidly to climatic change when (i) the vegetation transition correlates more strongly with climate than with other environmental variables, (ii) dominant species exhibit gradual changes in abundance across spatial transitions, and/or (iii) the dominant species have demographic properties that allow rapid increases in abundance following climatic shifts. All three of these properties characterize the transition between tussock tundra and low shrub tundra. It is therefore not surprising that of the four transitions studied this is the one that appears to be responding most rapidly to climatic warming.

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Soil Acidity and Exchange Properties of Cryogenic Soils in Arctic Alaska

Cited by 31 publications

References 8 publications

Topographic controls on black carbon accumulation in Alaskan black spruce forest soils: implications for organic matter dynamics

Topographic controls on black carbon accumulation in Alaskan black spruce forest soils: implications for organic matter dynamics

Permafrost soils and carbon cycling

The nature of spatial transitions in the Arctic

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