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von Fromm SF, Doetterl S, Butler BM, Aynekulu E, Berhe AA, Haefele SM, McGrath SP, Shepherd KD, Six J, Tamene L, Tondoh EJ, Vågen TG, Winowiecki LA, Trumbore SE, Hoyt AM. Controls on timescales of soil organic carbon persistence across sub-Saharan Africa. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2024; 30:e17089. [PMID: 38273490 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.17089] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2023] [Revised: 11/26/2023] [Accepted: 11/27/2023] [Indexed: 01/27/2024]
Abstract
Given the importance of soil for the global carbon cycle, it is essential to understand not only how much carbon soil stores but also how long this carbon persists. Previous studies have shown that the amount and age of soil carbon are strongly affected by the interaction of climate, vegetation, and mineralogy. However, these findings are primarily based on studies from temperate regions and from fine-scale studies, leaving large knowledge gaps for soils from understudied regions such as sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, there is a lack of data to validate modeled soil C dynamics at broad scales. Here, we present insights into organic carbon cycling, based on a new broad-scale radiocarbon and mineral dataset for sub-Saharan Africa. We found that in moderately weathered soils in seasonal climate zones with poorly crystalline and reactive clay minerals, organic carbon persists longer on average (topsoil: 201 ± 130 years; subsoil: 645 ± 385 years) than in highly weathered soils in humid regions (topsoil: 140 ± 46 years; subsoil: 454 ± 247 years) with less reactive minerals. Soils in arid climate zones (topsoil: 396 ± 339 years; subsoil: 963 ± 669 years) store organic carbon for periods more similar to those in seasonal climate zones, likely reflecting climatic constraints on weathering, carbon inputs and microbial decomposition. These insights into the timescales of organic carbon persistence in soils of sub-Saharan Africa suggest that a process-oriented grouping of soils based on pedo-climatic conditions may be useful to improve predictions of soil responses to climate change at broader scales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophie F von Fromm
- Max-Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany
- Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Sebastian Doetterl
- Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Keith D Shepherd
- Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, UK
- Innovative Solutions for Decision Agriculture (iSDA), Harpenden, UK
| | - Johan Six
- Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Lulseged Tamene
- International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Ebagnerin J Tondoh
- Nangui Abrogoua University, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
- CIFOR-ICRAF, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
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Bramble DSE, Ulrich S, Schöning I, Mikutta R, Brandt L, Poll C, Kandeler E, Mikutta C, Konrad A, Siemens J, Yang Y, Polle A, Schall P, Ammer C, Kaiser K, Schrumpf M. Formation of mineral-associated organic matter in temperate soils is primarily controlled by mineral type and modified by land use and management intensity. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2024; 30:e17024. [PMID: 37986273 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.17024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2023] [Revised: 09/15/2023] [Accepted: 09/28/2023] [Indexed: 11/22/2023]
Abstract
Formation of mineral-associated organic matter (MAOM) supports the accumulation and stabilization of carbon (C) in soil, and thus, is a key factor in the global C cycle. Little is known about the interplay of mineral type, land use and management intensity in MAOM formation, especially on subdecadal time scales. We exposed mineral containers with goethite or illite, the most abundant iron oxide and phyllosilicate clay in temperate soils, for 5 years in topsoils of 150 forest and 150 grassland sites in three regions across Germany. Results show that irrespective of land use and management intensity, more C accumulated on goethite than illite (on average 0.23 ± 0.10 and 0.06 ± 0.03 mg m-2 mineral surface respectively). Carbon accumulation across regions was consistently higher in coniferous forests than in deciduous forests and grasslands. Structural equation models further showed that thinning and harvesting reduced MAOM formation in forests. Formation of MAOM in grasslands was not affected by grazing. Fertilization had opposite effects on MAOM formation, with the positive effect being mediated by enhanced plant productivity and the negative effect by reduced plant species richness. This highlights the caveat of applying fertilizers as a strategy to increase soil C stocks in temperate grasslands. Overall, we demonstrate that the rate and amount of MAOM formation in soil is primarily driven by mineral type, and can be modulated by land use and management intensity even on subdecadal time scales. Our results suggest that temperate soils dominated by oxides have a higher capacity to accumulate and store C than those dominated by phyllosilicate clays, even under circumneutral pH conditions. Therefore, adopting land use and management practices that increase C inputs into oxide-rich soils that are under their capacity to store C may offer great potential to enhance near-term soil C sequestration.
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Affiliation(s)
- De Shorn E Bramble
- Max-Planck-Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany
- Department of Hydrogeology, Institute for Geosciences, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany
| | - Susanne Ulrich
- Soil Science and Soil Protection, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany
| | - Ingo Schöning
- Max-Planck-Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany
| | - Robert Mikutta
- Soil Science and Soil Protection, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany
| | - Luise Brandt
- Department of Soil Biology, Institute of Soil Science and Land Evaluation, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Christian Poll
- Department of Soil Biology, Institute of Soil Science and Land Evaluation, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Ellen Kandeler
- Department of Soil Biology, Institute of Soil Science and Land Evaluation, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Christian Mikutta
- Soil Mineralogy, Institute of Mineralogy, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz University Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | - Alexander Konrad
- Institute of Soil Science and Soil Conservation, iFZ Research Center for BioSystems, Land Use and Nutrition, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
| | - Jan Siemens
- Institute of Soil Science and Soil Conservation, iFZ Research Center for BioSystems, Land Use and Nutrition, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
| | - Yang Yang
- Department of Forest Botany and Tree Physiology, Georg August University Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Andrea Polle
- Department of Forest Botany and Tree Physiology, Georg August University Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Peter Schall
- Department of Silviculture and Forest Ecology of the Temperate Zones, Georg August University Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Christian Ammer
- Department of Silviculture and Forest Ecology of the Temperate Zones, Georg August University Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Klaus Kaiser
- Soil Science and Soil Protection, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany
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de Carvalho AM, de Jesus DR, de Sousa TR, Ramos MLG, de Figueiredo CC, de Oliveira AD, Marchão RL, Ribeiro FP, Dantas RDA, Borges LDAB. Soil Carbon Stocks and Greenhouse Gas Mitigation of Agriculture in the Brazilian Cerrado-A Review. PLANTS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 12:2449. [PMID: 37447015 DOI: 10.3390/plants12132449] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2023] [Revised: 06/20/2023] [Accepted: 06/21/2023] [Indexed: 07/15/2023]
Abstract
New agricultural practices and land-use intensification in the Cerrado biome have affected the soil carbon stocks. A major part of the native vegetation of the Brazilian Cerrado, a tropical savanna-like ecoregion, has been replaced by crops, which has caused changes in the soil carbon (C) stocks. To ensure the sustainability of this intensified agricultural production, actions have been taken to increase soil C stocks and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. In the last two decades, new agricultural practices have been adopted in the Cerrado region, and their impact on C stocks needs to be better understood. This subject has been addressed in a systematic review of the existing data in the literature, consisting of 63 articles from the Scopus database. Our review showed that the replacement of Cerrado vegetation by crop species decreased the original soil C stocks (depth 0-30 cm) by 73%, with a peak loss of 61.14 Mg ha-1. However, when analyzing the 0-100 cm layer, 52.4% of the C stock data were higher under cultivated areas than in native Cerrado soils, with a peak gain of 93.6 Mg ha-1. The agricultural practices implemented in the Brazilian Cerrado make low-carbon agriculture in this biome possible.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Douglas Rodrigues de Jesus
- Faculty of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine, University of Brasília, Campus Darcy Ribeiro, Brasília 70910-970, DF, Brazil
| | - Thais Rodrigues de Sousa
- Faculty of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine, University of Brasília, Campus Darcy Ribeiro, Brasília 70910-970, DF, Brazil
| | - Maria Lucrécia Gerosa Ramos
- Faculty of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine, University of Brasília, Campus Darcy Ribeiro, Brasília 70910-970, DF, Brazil
| | - Cícero Célio de Figueiredo
- Faculty of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine, University of Brasília, Campus Darcy Ribeiro, Brasília 70910-970, DF, Brazil
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