Kg C (kg + c)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Gross rates of ammonification and nitrification at a nitrogen-saturated spruce (Picea abies (L.)Karst.) stand in southern Germany

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOIL SCIENCE, Issue 5 2010
P. Rosenkranz
We investigated the magnitudes of temporal and spatial variabilities of gross ammonification and nitrification, in an N-saturated temperate forest ecosystem. Forest soil gross ammonification, gross nitrification and heterotrophic soil respiration were measured in the forest floor and uppermost mineral layer over a period of 3 years. Total annual gross fluxes for the organic layer and uppermost mineral horizon (0,4 cm) were in the range of 800,980 kg N ha,1 year,1 for gross ammonification and 480,590 kg N ha,1 year,1 for gross nitrification. Annual heterotrophic soil respiration was 8000,8900 kg C ha,1 year,1. Highest soil C and N turnover rates occurred in summer, and a consistent pattern was observed throughout the observation period, with highest values for plots located at a clear-cut area and lowest values for plots located at an unmanaged, approximately 100-year-old, spruce control site. Soil moisture, soil temperature and substrate availability accounted for most of the observed variability of C and N turnover rates. Because gross rates of inorganic N production were more than an order of magnitude larger than ecosystem N losses along hydrological and gaseous pathways, our study underlines the importance of internal microbial N turnover processes for ecosystem N cycling and retention. [source]


Migratory Atlantic salmon as vectors for the transfer of energy and nutrients between freshwater and marine environments

FRESHWATER BIOLOGY, Issue 1 2003
Bror Jonsson
SUMMARY 1.,Annual energy, carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus fluxes across the river mouth by Atlantic salmon were estimated for 18 years (1976,94) in the Norwegian River Imsa. The total energy content of the emigrating smolts in each year varied considerably with a mean value of 237 × 103 kJ. That of returning adults also varied between years with a mean value of 141 × 104 kJ. One-sea-winter salmon (grilse) made up 65% of the total energy content of the spawners in the river. Dead carcasses remaining in the river after spawning were estimated to have a mean annual energy content of 175 × 103 kJ. 2.,The net annual energy flux from the sea to the river varied between 48 × 103 kJ (1987) and 152 × 104 kJ (1989) with a mean of 616 × 103 kJ, and a coefficient of variation of 67%. Average net marine import of the returning adults was 83 × 104 kJ year,1 with a coefficient of variation of 52%. Mean annual export of C, N and P to sea by the smolts was 595, 131 and 22 kg, and by kelts 1535, 352 and 70 kg, respectively, whereas gross import via the adults was 3176 kg C, 735 kg N and 132 kg P. The annual flux across the river mouth was 1046 kg C, 253 kg N and 39 kg P. The net marine import were 1585 kg C, 371 kg N and 60 kg P. The net flux was estimated at 0.2% for nitrogen and 5% for phosphorus of the total river load. 3.,The energy flux caused by Atlantic salmon spawning in the River Imsa was relatively high because the general nutrient load in the river is low. Thus, even though most Atlantic salmon survive spawning, their contribution to the nutrient flux in the river is significant. [source]


Aboveground plant biomass, carbon, and nitrogen dynamics before and after burning in a seminatural grassland of Miscanthus sinensis in Kumamoto, Japan

GCB BIOENERGY, Issue 2 2010
YO TOMA
Abstract Although fire has been used for several thousand years to maintain Miscanthus sinensis grasslands in Japan, there is little information about the nutrient dynamics in these ecosystems immediately after burning. We investigated the loss of aboveground biomass; carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) dynamics; surface soil C change before and after burning; and carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) fluxes 2 h after burning in a M. sinensis grassland in Kumamoto, Japan. We calculated average C and N accumulation rates within the soil profile over the past 7300 years, which were 58.0 kg C ha,1 yr,1 and 2.60 kg N ha,1 yr,1, respectively. After burning, 98% of aboveground biomass and litter were consumed. Carbon remaining on the field, however, was 102 kg C ha,1. We found at least 43% of C was possibly lost due to decomposition. However, remaining C, which contained ash and charcoal, appeared to contribute to C accumulation in soil. There was no difference in the amount of 0,5 cm surface soil C before and after burning. The amount of remaining litter on the soil surface indicated burning appeared not to have caused a reduction in soil C nor did it negatively impact the sub-surface vegetative crown of M. sinensis. Also, nearly 50 kg N ha,1 of total aboveground biomass and litter N was lost due to burning. Compared with before the burning event, postburning CO2 and CH4 fluxes from soil appeared not to be directly affected by burning. However, it appears the short time span of measurements of N2O flux after burning sufficiently characterized the pattern of increasing N2O fluxes immediately after burning. These findings indicate burning did not cause significant reductions in soil C nor did it result in elevated CO2 and CH4 emissions from the soil relative to before the burning event. [source]


Estimation of the carbon sequestration by a heterogeneous forest: night flux corrections, heterogeneity of the site and inter-annual variability

GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, Issue 11 2002
MARC AUBINET
Abstract Continuous measurements of the net CO2 flux exchanged in a mixed forest with the atmosphere were performed over 5 years at the Vielsalm experimental site. The carbon sequestration at the site was deduced by a summation of the measurements. Problems associated with this summation procedure were discussed. The carbon sequestration in the ecosystem was presented and its interannual variability was discussed. An estimation of the night flux correction was given. The correction was applied by replacing measurements made during quiet nights by a parameterization. The impact of the correction was shown to vary between 10 and 20% of the uncorrected flux, according to the year. The need to include the storage flux during turbulent periods was emphasized: its neglect leads to an error which will be greater than the one it tries to correct. It was also shown that the heterogeneity of the site made it necessary to split the data into separate series corresponding to the different vegetation patches and to fill the data gaps by using an algorithm that takes account of the weather conditions. Two series were defined, one corresponding to a beech subplot, the other to a conifer subplot. The uncertainty owing to the data split and the data gap-filling was about 15,20% annually. The carbon sequestration was then analysed in both the subplots. The length of the growing season was about 210 days in the beech and 240 days in the conifer. The carbon sequestration over 5 years was 2.28 kg C m2,2 in the beech and 3.58 kg C m2,2 in the conifer. The main difference between the species appeared in spring, between March and May, when the beeches were leafless. Significant interannual variations were observed in both the subplots. They appeared mainly in summer and were primarily because of the variations in the radiation and air humidity regimes. In addition, an impact of the interannual variation of the vegetation area index (VAI) and of the leaf initiation date was observed in the beech. Finally, a decline of the carbon sequestration efficiency of the ecosystem during the season was observed in both the subplots. It was because of neither the variation in any climatic variables nor VAI variation. [source]


Effect of nitrogen fertilisation on below-ground carbon allocation in lettuce

JOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE, Issue 13 2002
Y Kuzyakov
Abstract The aims of this study were to investigate the effect of nitrogen (N) fertilisation on the below-ground carbon (C) translocation by lettuce and the CO2 efflux from its rhizosphere. Two N fertilisation levels (80 and 160,kg N,ha,1) and two growth stages (43 and 60 days) were tested. 14C pulse labelling of shoots followed by 14C monitoring in the soil, roots, microbial biomass and CO2 efflux from the soil was used to distinguish between root-derived and soil organic matter-derived,C. The 14C allocation in the below-ground plant parts was 1.5,4.6 times lower than in the leaves. The total quantity of C translocated into the soil was much lower than in the case of cereals and grasses, amounting to 120 and 160,kg C,ha,1 for low and high N respectively. N fertilisation diminished the proportion of assimilated C translocated below ground. About 5,8% of the assimilated C was respired into the rhizosphere. Root-derived CO2 (the sum of root respiration and rhizomicrobial respiration) represented about 15,60% of the total CO2 efflux from the planted soil. Two peaks were measured in the 14CO2 efflux: the first peak (4,5,h after labelling) was attributed to root respiration, whilst the second peak (12,h after labelling) was attributed to microbial respiration of exudates. Twelve days after labelling, 0.15,0.25% of the assimilated C was found in the microbial biomass. The higher microbial activity in the lettuce rhizosphere doubled the soil organic matter decomposition rate compared with unplanted soil. © 2002 Society of Chemical Industry [source]


Soil organic carbon pools in a periglacial landscape: a case study from the central Canadian Arctic

PERMAFROST AND PERIGLACIAL PROCESSES, Issue 1 2010
Gustaf Hugelius
Abstract We investigated total storage and landscape partitioning of soil organic carbon (SOC) in continuous permafrost terrain, central Canadian Arctic. The study is based on soil chemical analyses of pedons sampled to 1-m depth at 35 individual sites along three transects. Radiocarbon dating of cryoturbated soil pockets, basal peat and fossil wood shows that cryoturbation processes have been occurring since the Middle Holocene and that peat deposits started to accumulate in a forest-tundra environment where spruce was present (,6000 cal yrs BP). Detailed partitioning of SOC into surface organic horizons, cryoturbated soil pockets and non-cryoturbated mineral soil horizons is calculated (with storage in active layer and permafrost calculated separately) and explored using principal component analysis. The detailed partitioning and mean storage of SOC in the landscape are estimated from transect vegetation inventories and a land cover classification based on a Landsat satellite image. Mean SOC storage in the 0,100-cm depth interval is 33.8,kg C,m,2, of which 11.8,kg C m,2 is in permafrost. Fifty-six per cent of the total SOC mass is stored in peatlands (mainly bogs), but cryoturbated soil pockets in Turbic Cryosols also contribute significantly (17%). Elemental C/N ratios indicate that this cryoturbated soil organic matter (SOM) decomposes more slowly than SOM in surface O-horizons. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Organic carbon and carbon isotopes in modern and 100-year-old-soil archives of the Russian steppe

GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, Issue 10 2002
Margaret S. Torn
Abstract Archived soils can provide valuable information about changes in the carbon and carbon isotope content of soils during the past century. We characterized soil carbon dynamics in a Russian steppe preserve using a 100-year-old-soil archive and modern samples collected from the same site. The site has been protected since 1885 to the present, during which time the region has experienced widespread conversion to cultivation, a decrease in fire frequency, and a trend of increasing precipitation. In the preserve, the amount of organic carbon did not change appreciably between the 1900 and 1997 sampling dates, with 32 kg C/m2 in the top meter and a third of that in the top 20 cm. Carbon and nitrogen stocks varied by less than 6% between two replicate modern soil pits or between the modern sites and the archive. Radiocarbon content decreased with depth in all sites and the modern SOM had positive , values near the surface due to nuclear weapons testing in the early 1960s. In the upper 10 cm, most of the SOM had a turnover time of 6,10 years, according to a model fit to the radiocarbon content. Below about 10 cm, the organic matter was almost all passive material with long (millennial) turnover times. Soil respiration ,14CO2 on a summer day was 106,109,, an isotopic disequilibrium of about 9, relative to atmospheric 14CO2. In both the modern and archive soil, the relative abundance of 13C in organic matter increased with depth by 2, in the upper meter from ,13C = --26, at 5 cm to --24, below a meter. In addition, the slope of ,13C vs. depth below 5 cm was the same for both soils. Given the age of the soil archive, these results give clear evidence that the depth gradients are not due to depletion of atmospheric 13CO2 by fossil fuel emissions but must instead be caused by isotopic fractionation between plant litter inputs and preservation of SOM. Overall, the data show that these soils have a large reservoir of recalcitrant C and stocks had not changed between sampling dates 100 years apart. [source]