Soil organic carbon is not just for soil scientists: measurement recommendations for diverse practitioners.

Soil organic carbon (SOC) regulates terrestrial ecosystem functioning, provides diverse energy sources for soil microorganisms, governs soil structure, and regulates the availability of organically bound nutrients. Investigators in increasingly diverse disciplines recognize how quantifying SOC attributes can provide insight about ecological states and processes. Today, multiple research networks collect and provide SOC data, and robust, new technologies are available for managing, sharing, and analyzing large data sets. We advocate that the scientific community capitalize on these developments to augment SOC data sets via standardized protocols. We describe why such efforts are important and the breadth of disciplines for which it will be helpful, and outline a tiered approach for standardized sampling of SOC and ancillary variables that ranges from simple to more complex. We target scientists ranging from those with little to no background in soil science to those with more soil-related expertise, and offer examples of the ways in which the resulting data can be organized, shared, and discoverable.

Sinks for nitrogen inputs in terrestrial ecosystems: a meta-analysis of 15N tracer field studies.

Effects of anthropogenic nitrogen (N) deposition and the ability of terrestrial ecosystems to store carbon (C) depend in part on the amount of N retained in the system and its partitioning among plant and soil pools. We conducted a meta-analysis of studies at 48 sites across four continents that used enriched 15N isotope tracers in order to synthesize information about total ecosystem N retention (i.e., total ecosystem 15N recovery in plant and soil pools) across natural systems and N partitioning among ecosystem pools. The greatest recoveries of ecosystem 15N tracer occurred in shrublands (mean, 89.5%) and wetlands (84.8%) followed by forests (74.9%) and grasslands (51.8%). In the short term (< 1 week after 15N tracer application), total ecosystem 15N recovery was negatively correlated with fine-root and soil 15N natural abundance, and organic soil C and N concentration but was positively correlated with mean annual temperature and mineral soil C:N. In the longer term (3-18 months after 15N tracer application), total ecosystem 15N retention was negatively correlated with foliar natural-abundance 15N but was positively correlated with mineral soil C and N concentration and C:N, showing that plant and soil natural-abundance 15N and soil C:N are good indicators of total ecosystem N retention. Foliar N concentration was not significantly related to ecosystem 15N tracer recovery, suggesting that plant N status is not a good predictor of total ecosystem N retention. Because the largest ecosystem sinks for 15N tracer were below ground in forests, shrublands, and grasslands, we conclude that growth enhancement and potential for increased C storage in aboveground biomass from atmospheric N deposition is likely to be modest in these ecosystems. Total ecosystem 15N recovery decreased with N fertilization, with an apparent threshold fertilization rate of 46 kg N x ha(-1) x yr(-1) above which most ecosystems showed net losses of applied 15N tracer in response to N fertilizer addition.

15N natural abundances and N use by tundra plants.

Plant species collected from tundra ecosystems located along a north-south transect from central Alaska to the north coast of Alaska showed large and consistent differences in 15N natural abundances. Foliar δ15N values varied by about 10% among species within each of two moist tussock tundra sites. Differences in 15N contents among species or plant groups were consistent across moist tussock tundra at several other sites and across five other tundra types at a single site. Ericaceous species had the lowest δ15N values, ranging between about -8 to -6‰. Foliar 15N contents increased progressively in birch, willows and sedges to maximum δ15N values of about +2‰ in sedges. Soil 15N contents in tundra ecosystems at our two most intensively studied sites increased with depth and δ15N values were usually higher for soils than for plants. Isotopic fractionations during soil N transformations and possibly during plant N uptake could lead to observed differences in 15N contents among plant species and between plants and soils. Patterns of variation in 15N content among species indicate that tundra plants acquire nitrogen in extremely nutrient-poor environments by competitive partitioning of the overall N pool. Differences in plant N sources, rooting depth, mycorrhizal associations, forms of N taken up, and other factors controlling plant N uptake are possible causes of variations in δ15N values of tundra plant species.

Effects of drainage and temperature on carbon balance of tussock tundra micrososms.

We examined the importance of temperature (7°C or 15°C) and soil moisture regime (saturated or field capacity) on the carbon (C) balance of arctic tussock tundra microcosms (intact blocks of soil and vegetation) in growth chambers over an 81-day simulated growing season. We measured gaseous CO2 exchanges, methane (CH4) emissions, and dissolved C losses on intact blocks of tussock (Eriophorum vaginatum) and intertussock (moss-dominated). We hypothesized that under increased temperature and/or enhanced drainage, C losses from ecosystem respiration (CO2 respired by plants and heterotrophs) would exceed gains from gross photosynthesis causing tussock tundra to become a net source of C to the atmosphere. The field capacity moisture regime caused a decrease in net CO2 storage (NEP) in tussock tundra micrososms. This resulted from a stimulation of ecosystem respiration (probably mostly microbial) with enhanced drainage, rather than a decrease in gross photosynthesis. Elevated temperature alone had no effect on NEP because CO2 losses from increased ecosystem respiration at elevated temperature were compensated by increased CO2 uptake (gross photosynthesis). Although CO2 losses from ecosystem respiration were primarily limited by drainage, CH4 emissions, in contrast, were dependent on temperature. Furthermore, substantial dissolved C losses, especially organic C, and important microhabitat differences must be considered in estimating C balance for the tussock tundra system. As much as ∼ 20% of total C fixed in photosynthesis was lost as dissolved organic C. Tussocks stored ∼ 2x more C and emitted 5x more methane than intertussocks. In spite of the limitations of this microcosm experiment, this study has further elucidated the critical role of soil moisture regime and dissolved C losses in regulating net C balance of arctic tussock tundra.

Assessing the role of fine roots in carbon and nutrient cycling.

Fine roots remain one of the most difficult and important areas to study in terrestrial ecosystems. Recent investigations have focused on carbon and nitrogen balances to assess their dynamics in natural systems. The results of these new, system-level, budgeting approaches together with those of the more conventional biomass measurement methods may provide valuable insight into fine root carbon and nutrient cycling dynamics. These findings, in turn, may facilitate a more holistic understanding of ecosystem structure and function, which is critical for the assessment and prediction of disturbances to terrestrial systems.