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Tracing the sources and spatial distribution of organic carbon in subsoils using a multi-biomarker approach

Soil organic carbon (SOC) from aboveground and belowground sources has rarely been differentiated although it may drive SOC turnover and stabilization due to a presumed differing source dependent degradability. It is thus crucial to better identify the location of SOC from different sources for the...

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Autores principales: Angst, Gerrit, John, Stephan, Mueller, Carsten W., Kögel-Knabner, Ingrid, Rethemeyer, Janet
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Nature Publishing Group 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4933938/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27380728
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep29478
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author Angst, Gerrit
John, Stephan
Mueller, Carsten W.
Kögel-Knabner, Ingrid
Rethemeyer, Janet
author_facet Angst, Gerrit
John, Stephan
Mueller, Carsten W.
Kögel-Knabner, Ingrid
Rethemeyer, Janet
author_sort Angst, Gerrit
collection PubMed
description Soil organic carbon (SOC) from aboveground and belowground sources has rarely been differentiated although it may drive SOC turnover and stabilization due to a presumed differing source dependent degradability. It is thus crucial to better identify the location of SOC from different sources for the parameterization of SOC models, especially in the less investigated subsoils. The aim of this study was to spatially assess contributions of organic carbon from aboveground and belowground parts of beech trees to subsoil organic carbon in a Dystric Cambisol. Different sources of SOC were distinguished by solvent-extractable and hydrolysable lipid biomarkers aided by (14)C analyses of soil compartments <63 μm. We found no effect of the distance to the trees on the investigated parameters. Instead, a vertical zonation of the subsoil was detected. A high contribution of fresh leaf- and root-derived organic carbon to the upper subsoil (leaf- and root-affected zone) indicate that supposedly fast-cycling, leaf-derived SOC may still be of considerable importance below the A-horizon. In the deeper subsoil (root-affected zone), roots were an important source of fresh SOC. Simultaneously, strongly increasing apparent (14)C ages (3860 yrs BP) indicate considerable contribution of SOC that may be inherited from the Pleistocene parent material.
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spelling pubmed-49339382016-07-08 Tracing the sources and spatial distribution of organic carbon in subsoils using a multi-biomarker approach Angst, Gerrit John, Stephan Mueller, Carsten W. Kögel-Knabner, Ingrid Rethemeyer, Janet Sci Rep Article Soil organic carbon (SOC) from aboveground and belowground sources has rarely been differentiated although it may drive SOC turnover and stabilization due to a presumed differing source dependent degradability. It is thus crucial to better identify the location of SOC from different sources for the parameterization of SOC models, especially in the less investigated subsoils. The aim of this study was to spatially assess contributions of organic carbon from aboveground and belowground parts of beech trees to subsoil organic carbon in a Dystric Cambisol. Different sources of SOC were distinguished by solvent-extractable and hydrolysable lipid biomarkers aided by (14)C analyses of soil compartments <63 μm. We found no effect of the distance to the trees on the investigated parameters. Instead, a vertical zonation of the subsoil was detected. A high contribution of fresh leaf- and root-derived organic carbon to the upper subsoil (leaf- and root-affected zone) indicate that supposedly fast-cycling, leaf-derived SOC may still be of considerable importance below the A-horizon. In the deeper subsoil (root-affected zone), roots were an important source of fresh SOC. Simultaneously, strongly increasing apparent (14)C ages (3860 yrs BP) indicate considerable contribution of SOC that may be inherited from the Pleistocene parent material. Nature Publishing Group 2016-07-06 /pmc/articles/PMC4933938/ /pubmed/27380728 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep29478 Text en Copyright © 2016, Macmillan Publishers Limited http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
spellingShingle Article
Angst, Gerrit
John, Stephan
Mueller, Carsten W.
Kögel-Knabner, Ingrid
Rethemeyer, Janet
Tracing the sources and spatial distribution of organic carbon in subsoils using a multi-biomarker approach
title Tracing the sources and spatial distribution of organic carbon in subsoils using a multi-biomarker approach
title_full Tracing the sources and spatial distribution of organic carbon in subsoils using a multi-biomarker approach
title_fullStr Tracing the sources and spatial distribution of organic carbon in subsoils using a multi-biomarker approach
title_full_unstemmed Tracing the sources and spatial distribution of organic carbon in subsoils using a multi-biomarker approach
title_short Tracing the sources and spatial distribution of organic carbon in subsoils using a multi-biomarker approach
title_sort tracing the sources and spatial distribution of organic carbon in subsoils using a multi-biomarker approach
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4933938/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27380728
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep29478
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