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Soil organic carbon partitioning and Δ14C variation in desert and conifer ecosystems of southern Arizona

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Abstract

Soils are significant terrestrial carbon stores yet the mechanisms that stabilize organic carbon in mineral soil remain poorly constrained. Here, we identified climate and topographic controls on soil organic carbon storage along the Catalina Critical Zone Observatory that spans a significant range in mean annual temperature (>10 °C) and mean annual precipitation (>50 cm year−1). Granitic soils were collected from divergent summit and convergent footslope positions in desert scrub, pine, and mixed conifer systems. Physical soil carbon distribution was quantified using a density and sonication technique to obtain the “free,” “occluded,” and heavy “mineral” soil carbon pools. We examined bulk soil (<2 mm) and density fractions using total carbon (%), stable isotopic composition (δ13C), and radiocarbon analyses (Δ14C). Desert scrub soils stored minimal soil carbon (<1% by weight) that was partitioned to the heavy mineral pool. Surprisingly, we identified depleted ∆14C in the bulk soil (−9 to −66‰) and mineral C fractions (−72 to −90‰) from subsurface weathered granite in the desert system. The transition to the productive P. pine ecosystem was met with more soil C (>3%) that partitioned evenly between the free light and mineral fractions. Soil C in the P. pine system also reflected the impact of a moderate severity fire in 2002 that led to modern ∆14C values for bulk soil and density fractions. The mixed conifer system contained a greater proportion of passive occluded C in the subsurface soils. We observed evidence for modern fire inputs into the surface soils of the mixed conifer system in combination with buried charcoal and occluded C associated with historic fire events. Convergent landscapes contained higher soil carbon stocks and depleted ∆14C relative to adjacent divergent landscapes, suggesting a landscape-level mechanism that includes the transport, burial, and preservation of soil carbon downslope. These data sets provide insights into ecosystem- and hillslope-scale variations in soil carbon storage across semiarid to subhumid environments.

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded by NSF EAR-1123454, NSF EAR/IF-0929850, the national Critical Zone Observatory program via NSF EAR-0724958 and NSF EAR-0632516, and Geological Society of America’s Graduate Student Research Grant. Logistical support and/or data were provided by the NSF supported Niwot Ridge Long-Term Ecological Research project and the University of Colorado Mountain Research Station. Radiocarbon analyses were supported by the Radiocarbon Collaborative, which is a joint program of the USDA Forest Service, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Michigan Technological University. The authors also thank Dr. S. Mercer Meding, Katarena Matos, Molly van Dop, Justine Mayo, Stephanie Castro, Christopher Clingensmith, Mary Kay Amistadi, Nate Abramson, Dr. Julia Perdrial, Stephan Hlohowskyj, and Andrew Martinez for laboratory and field assistance.

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  1. Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA

    Rebecca A. Lybrand & Craig Rasmussen

  2. Department of Crop and Soil Science, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA

    Rebecca A. Lybrand

  3. Northern Research Station, USDA Forest Service, Houghton, MI, 49931, USA

    Katherine Heckman

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Correspondence to Rebecca A. Lybrand.

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10533_2017_360_MOESM1_ESM.tif

Figure A1 Photographs of the soil organic carbon fractions separated from bulk soil samples in the desert scrub, P. pine, and mixed conifer field sites (TIFF 2715 kb)

10533_2017_360_MOESM2_ESM.tif

Photographs of the a) Ponderosa pine site showing evidence of charcoal accumulation and staining in the surface soil and b) the mixed conifer site showing that charcoal was sampled at depth from the profile. Photo credit: Andrew Martinez (TIFF 2429 kb)

10533_2017_360_MOESM3_ESM.tif

Vegetation cover calculated from 1-m NAIP imagery for the a) desert scrub, b) Ponderosa pine, and c) mixed conifer field areas (TIFF 5958 kb)

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Lybrand, R.A., Heckman, K. & Rasmussen, C. Soil organic carbon partitioning and Δ14C variation in desert and conifer ecosystems of southern Arizona. Biogeochemistry 134, 261–277 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-017-0360-7

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