scholarly journals Long term trends in fertility of soils under continuous cultivation and cereal cropping in southern Queensland. III. Distribution and kinetics of soil organic carbon in particle size fractions

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.

1990 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
pp. 395-402 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. ELUSTONDO ◽  
M. R. LAVERDIÈRE ◽  
D. A. ANGERS ◽  
A. N'DAYEGAMIYE

Water-stable aggregation and organic matter associated with particle-size fractions were compared for seven pairs of soils that were either under meadow or continuous corn cropping for more than 5 yr. Soils that have remained under meadow contained 25 and 29% more carbon and nitrogen than those under continuous corn. Carbon contents of the sand- and silt-size fractions were also 61 and 15% higher, respectively, under meadow than under continuous corn. The cropping system had no significant effect on the carbon and nitrogen contents of the clay-size fractions. The amount of water-stable aggregates (> 1 mm) was on average 34% higher in soils under meadow than in soils under corn cropping. Significant correlations were found between water-stable aggregates and total C (r = 0.77) and C in sand-size fraction (r = 0.79). The results also indicate that the beneficial effect of meadow over continuous corn on soil aggregation increases as soil clay content increases. Key words: Aggregation, organic matter, particle-size fractions, corn, meadow


1995 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. G. Gregorich ◽  
C. M. Monreal ◽  
B. H. Ellert

Total organic C and natural C abundance were measured in a forest soil and a soil under corn (Zea mays L.) to assess management-induced changes in the quantity and initial source of organic matter. The total mass of organic C in the cultivated soil was 19% lower than in the forest soil. It was estimated that after 25 yr of continuous corn, 100 Mg C ha−1 was returned to the soil as residues, of which only 23 Mg ha−1 remained in the soil; 88% of the remaining corn-derived C (C4-derived C) was in the plow layer. About 30% of the soil organic C in the plow layer (0–27 cm) was derived from corn. Assuming first order kinetics, the half-life of C3-derived C in the 0- to 15-cm layer was 13 yr. The half-life of C3-derived C in the 0- to 30-cm layer, which included organic C below the plow layer, was 24 yr. Mineralization of the light fraction (LF) was faster than that of organic matter associated with particle-size fractions. More than 70% of the LF had turned over since the start of corn cropping, and 45% of organic matter in the sand fraction comprised corn residue. The half-life of C3-derived C in the LF was 8 yr. The mineralization of C from native organic matter associated with the coarse silt fraction was the slowest of all particle-size fractions. Key words: Soil organic matter, carbon storage, natural 13C abundance, light fraction, particle-size fractions, mineralization


Soil Research ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 83 ◽  
Author(s):  
RC Dalal ◽  
RJ Mayer

The dynamics of total N in particle-size and density fractions of six major soils which have been used for cereal cropping for 20-70 years were studied in order to identify the labile organic matter fractions in soil. For virgin soils, no single particle-size was consistently enriched in N as compared with the whole soil. The clay fraction contained the largest proportion (53% overall) of total N. Silt-size and sand-size N fractions accounted for 26% and 21% of total N, respectively. Upon cultivation, the sand-size fraction lost most of its N (as much as 89% in Langlands-Logie soil). However, N losses also occurred from silt-size and clay-size fractions in most soils. Changes in C : N ratios of different particle-size fractions upon cultivation were not consistent in all soils, possibly because of the transfer of organic C and N among these fractions. Therefore, the separation of labile organic matter fractions from the whole soil based upon particle-size may not be successful in all soils. On the other hand, the density fractionation of soil into a light fraction (<2 Mg m-3) containing relatively labile organic matter (76-96% lost upon cultivation) and a heavy fraction (>2 Mg m-3) containing less labile organic matter appears to be more successful in most soils. It is suggested that the cultural practices that enhance the amount of light fraction would increase the rate of nutrient cycling through microbial biomass and may increase the overall availability of nutrients in soil.


2009 ◽  
Vol 105 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aizhen Liang ◽  
Xueming Yang ◽  
Xiaoping Zhang ◽  
Neil McLaughlin ◽  
Yan Shen ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 1896-1905 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zijuan Xu ◽  
Zichuan Li ◽  
Hongyan Liu ◽  
Xiaodong Zhang ◽  
Qian Hao ◽  
...  

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