ABSTRACT
Sustainable forest management requires understanding of ecosystem phosphorus (P) cycling. Lang et al. (2017) [Biogeochemistry, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-017-0375-0] introduced the concept of P-acquiring vs. P-recycling nutrition strategies for European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) forests on silicate parent material, and demonstrated a change from P-acquiring to P-recycling nutrition from P-rich to P-poor sites. The present study extends this silicate rock-based assessment to forest sites with soils formed from carbonate bedrock. For all sites, it presents a large set of general soil and bedrock chemistry data. It thoroughly describes the soil P status and generates a comprehensive concept on forest ecosystem P nutrition covering the majority of Central European forest soils. For this purpose, an Ecosystem P Nutrition Index (ENI P ) was developed, which enabled the comparison of forest P nutrition strategies at the carbonate sites in our study among each other and also with those of the silicate sites investigated by Lang et al. (2017). The P status of forest soils on carbonate substrates was characterized by low soil P stocks and a large fraction of organic Ca-bound P (probably largely Ca phytate) during early stages of pedogenesis. Soil P stocks, particularly those in the mineral soil and of inorganic P forms, including Al- and Fe-bound P, became more abundant with progressing pedogenesis and accumulation of carbonate rock dissolution residue. Phosphorus-rich impure, silicate-enriched carbonate bedrock promoted the accumulation of dissolution residue and supported larger soil P stocks, mainly bound to Fe and Al minerals. In carbonate-derived soils, only low P amounts were bioavailable during early stages of pedogenesis, and, similar to P-poor silicate sites, P nutrition of beech forests depended on tight (re)cycling of P bound in forest floor soil organic matter (SOM). In contrast to P-poor silicate sites, where the ecosystem P nutrition strategy is direct biotic recycling of SOM-bound organic P, recycling during early stages of pedogenesis on carbonate substrates also involves the dissolution of stable Ca-Porg precipitates formed from phosphate released during SOM decomposition. In contrast to silicate sites, progressing pedogenesis and accumulation of P-enriched carbonate bedrock dissolution residue at the carbonate sites promote again P-acquiring mechanisms for ecosystem P nutrition. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10533-021-00884-7.
ABSTRACT
Permafrost-affected soils of the northern circumpolar region represent 50% of the terrestrial soil organic carbon (SOC) reservoir and are most strongly affected by climatic change. There is growing concern that this vast SOC pool could transition from a net C sink to a source. But so far little is known on how the organic matter (OM) in permafrost soils will respond in a warming future, which is governed by OM composition and possible stabilization mechanisms. To investigate if and how SOC in the active layer and adjacent permafrost is protected against degradation, we employed density fractionation to separate differently stabilized SOM fractions. We studied the quantity and quality of OM in different compartments using elemental analysis, 13 C solid-phase nuclear magnetic resonance (13 C-NMR) spectroscopy, and 14 C analyses. The soil samples were derived from 16 cores from drained thaw lake basins, ranging from 0 to 5500 years of age, representing a unique series of developing Arctic soils over time. The normalized SOC stocks ranged between 35.5 and 86.2 kg SOC m-3 , with the major amount of SOC located in the active layers. The SOC stock is dominated by large amounts of particulate organic matter (POM), whereas mineral-associated OM especially in older soils is of minor importance on a mass basis. We show that tremendous amounts of over 25 kg OC per square meter are stored as presumably easily degradable OM rich in carbohydrates. Only about 10 kg OC per square meter is present as presumably more stable, mineral-associated OC. Significant amounts of the easily degradable, carbohydrate-rich OM are preserved in the yet permanently frozen soil below the permafrost table. Forced by global warming, this vast labile OM pool could soon become available for microbial degradation due to the continuous deepening of the annually thawing active layer.
