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Effect of plant communities on aggregate composition and organic matter stabilisation in young soils

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Abstract

Objectives

Carbon (C) content in pools of very young soils that developed during 45 years from loess was analysed in relation to vegetation: deciduous and coniferous forests and cropland. We hypothesised that variations in the amount of particulate organic matter (POM) can explain the C accumulation and also affects the C bound to mineral surfaces in soil under various vegetation.

Methods

Soil samples were collected under three vegetation types of a 45-year-old experiment focused on initial soil development. Aggregate and density fractionations were combined to analyse C accumulation in large and small macro- and microaggregates as well as in free and occluded POM and mineral factions.

Results

Deciduous forest soil accumulated the highest C content in the 0–5 cm layer (43 g C kg−1), whereas values in coniferous forest and arable soils were lower (30 and 12 g C kg−1, respectively). The highest portion of C in arable soil was accumulated in the mineral fraction (80 %), whereas 50–60 % of the C in forest soils were in POM. More C was associated with minerals in deciduous forest soil (16 g C kg−1 soil) than under coniferous forest and arable land (8–10 g C kg−1 soil).

Conclusions

Particulate organic matter explains most of the differences in organic C accumulation in soils developed during 45 years under the three vegetation types on identical parent material. The C content of the mineral soil fraction was controlled by plant cover and contributed the most to differences in C accumulation in soils developed under similar vegetation type (forest).

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Acknowledgments

Thanks are extended to the members of the Faculty of Soil Science of the Moscow Lomonosov State University for the installation and maintenance of lysimeters during the past five decades. The authors are grateful to the staff of the Dept. of Soil Science of Temperate Ecosystems of Goettingen University for their help in C and N analyses. This study was supported by a DAAD fellowship for A.G.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agricultural Soil Science, Georg-August-University of Göttingen, Büsgenweg 2, 37077, Göttingen, Germany

    Anna Gunina & Yakov Kuzyakov

  2. Department of Soil Biology and Biochemistry, V.V. Dokuchaev Soil Science Institute, Moscow, Russian Federation

    Anna Gunina

  3. Faculty of Soil Science, Moscow Lomonosov State University, Moscow, Russian Federation

    Anna Gunina & Irina Ryzhova

  4. Department of Soil Science of Temperate Ecosystems, Georg-August-University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany

    Maxim Dorodnikov & Yakov Kuzyakov

  5. Institute of Environmental Sciences, Kazan Federal University, Kazan, Russian Federation

    Yakov Kuzyakov

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  1. Anna Gunina
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  2. Irina Ryzhova
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  4. Yakov Kuzyakov
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anna Gunina.

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Responsible Editor: Kees Jan van Groenigen.

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Fig. S1

The C content (g C kg−1 dry weight of aggregates) of four density fractions separated from aggregates of three size classes, depending on vegetation type. Error bars represent standard error. In case error bars are not visible, they are smaller than sign size. Small letters reflect significant differences between plant communities; capital letters show significant differences between aggregate size classes within the soil. The letters for the rhombuses are always above the sign; for circles are above or on the right side from the sign, for triangles are below or on the left side from the sign; for squares are always above the sign. (DOC 25 kb)

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Gunina, A., Ryzhova, I., Dorodnikov, M. et al. Effect of plant communities on aggregate composition and organic matter stabilisation in young soils. Plant Soil 387, 265–275 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-014-2299-y

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