Gypsum and carbon amendments influence carbon fractions in two soils in Ohio, USA

Carbon sequestration as influenced by management practices such as soil amendments is not yet fully understood. Gypsum and crop residues can improve soil properties, but few studies have focused on their combined effect on soil C fractions. The objective of this greenhouse study was to determine how treatments affected different forms of C, i.e., total C, permanganate oxidizable C (POXC), and inorganic C in 5 soil layers (0–2, 2–4, 4–10, 10–25, and 25–40 cm). Treatments were glucose (4.5 Mg ha(-1)), crop residues (13.4 Mg ha(-1)), gypsum (26.9 Mg ha(-1)) and an untreated control. Treatments were applied to two contrasting soil types in Ohio (USA)—Wooster silt loam and Hoytville clay loam. The C measurements were made one year after the treatment applications. Total C and POXC contents were significantly higher in Hoytville soil as compared to Wooster soil (P < 0.05). Across both Wooster and Hoytville soils, the addition of glucose increased total C significantly by 7.2% and 5.9% only in the top 2 cm and 4 cm layers of soil, respectively, compared to the control treatment, and residue additions increased total C from 6.3–9.0% in various soil layers to a depth of 25 cm. Gypsum addition did not affect total C concentrations significantly. Glucose addition resulted in a significant increase in calcium carbonate equivalent concentrations in the top 10 cm of Hoytville soil only, and gypsum addition significantly (P < 0.10) increased inorganic C, as calcium carbonate equivalent, in the lowest layer of the Hoytville soil by 32% compared to the control. The combination of glucose and gypsum increased inorganic C levels in Hoytville soils by creating sufficient amounts of CO(2) that then reacted with Ca within the soil profile. This increase in inorganic C represents an additional way C can be sequestered in soil.