The influence of different fertilization practices on concentrations of organic carbon and total nitrogen in particle-size fractions during 34 years of a soil formation experiment in loamy marl

1992 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Leinweber ◽  
G. Reuter
Soil Research ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 293 ◽  
Author(s):  
RC Dalal ◽  
RJ Mayer

Distribution of soil organic carbon in sand-, silt- and clay-size fractions during cultivation for periods ranging from 20 to 70 years was studied in six major soils used for cereal cropping in southern Queensland. Particle-size fractions were obtained by dispersion in water using cation exchange resin, sieving and sedimentation. In the soils' virgin state no single particle-size fraction was found to be consistently enriched as compared to the whole soil in organic C in all six soils, although the largest proportion (48%) of organic C was in the clay-size fraction; silt and sand-size fractions contained remaining organic C in equal amounts. Upon cultivation, the amounts of organic C declined from all particle-size fractions in most soils, although the loss rates differed considerably among different fractions and from the whole soil. The proportion of the sand-size fraction declined rapidly (from 26% to 12% overall), whereas that of the clay-size fraction increased from 48% to 61% overall. The proportion of silt-size organic C was least affected by cultivation in most soils. It was inferred, therefore, that the sand-size organic matter is rapidly lost from soil, through mineralization as well as disintegration into silt-size and clay-size fractions, and that the clay fraction provides protection for the soil organic matter against microbial and enzymic degradation.


2005 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 338-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tianyun Wu ◽  
Jeff J. Schoenau ◽  
Fengmin Li ◽  
Peiyuan Qian ◽  
Sukhdev S. Malhi ◽  
...  

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