Visions of a more precise soil biology

Includes bibliographical references (pages 389-390).Soils have often been viewed as a black box. Soil biology is difficult to study with the precision we would wish, due to the presence of considerable soil heterogeneity, a huge diversity of organisms, and a plethora of interacting processes taking place in a complex physical-chemical environment. We have isolated a tiny fraction of the known organisms, and the possible interactions of soil parent materials, landscape, land use, depth and time with the biota mean that we are to some extent still fumbling in the dark. There have been great advances, but we argue that the pace of advance could be faster. To progress, science needs new theory and concepts but also acceptable methodologies. Coherent and generally accepted theoretical knowledge exists in many areas, but there is a shortage of valid and exact methods to test new and sometimes even old hypotheses. New methods add knowledge, but they also can add to the confusion if they are not tied to the existing knowledge base. We speculate on how to improve soil biology through improving the way we perform and interpret research. Can we deal with soil variability? Can we measure the critical variables with adequate precision to test our hypotheses? Can we avoid reinventing the wheel? Can we find a balance between the freedom to test new and maybe even controversial ideas and the control and direction of research required by society?

Temperature sensitivity of decomposition in relation to soil organic matter pools: Critique and outlook

Knorr et al. (2005) concluded that soil organic carbon pools with longer turnover times are more sensitive to temperature. We show that this conclusion is equivocal, largely dependent on their specific selection of data and does not persist when the data set of Kätterer et al. (1998) is analysed in a more appropriate way. Further, we analyse how statistical properties of the model parameters may interfere with correlative analyses that relate the Q 10 of soil respiration with the basal rate, where the latter is taken as a proxy for soil organic matter quality. We demonstrate that negative parameter correlations between Qio-values and base respiration rates are statistically expected and not necessarily provide evidence for a higher temperature sensitivity of low quality soil organic matter. Consequently, we propose it is premature to conclude that stable soil carbon is more sensitive to temperature than labile carbon

Temperature sensitivity of decomposition in relation to soil organic matter pools: critique and outlook

Knorr et al. (2005) concluded that soil organic carbon pools with longer turnover times are more sensitive to temperature. We show that this conclusion is equivocal, largely dependent on their specific selection of data and does not persist when the data set of Kätterer et al. (1998) is analysed in a more appropriate way. Further, we analyse how statistical properties of the model parameters may interfere with correlative analyses that relate the Q₁₀ of soil respiration with the basal rate, where the latter is taken as a proxy for soil organic matter quality. We demonstrate that negative parameter correlations between Q₁₀-values and base respiration rates are statistically expected and not necessarily provide evidence for a higher temperature sensitivity of low quality soil organic matter. Consequently, we propose it is premature to conclude that stable soil carbon is more sensitive to temperature than labile carbon

Biochar addition persistently increased soil fertility and yields in maizesoybean rotations over 10 years in sub-humid regions of Kenya

Open Access ArticleApplication of biochar has been shown to increase soil fertility and enable soil carbon sequestration, indicating potential for agricultural and environmental benefits from using locally produced biochar on African smallholder farms. However, previous studies have been rather short-term and little is known about the longer-term effects of biochar application on crop yields. Biochar contains ash, but the potential liming effect and nutrient release from ash may be short-lasting. To investigate long-term effects, we set up a series of field trials replicated at three sites in Kenya in 2006. The trials are still on-going and are possibly the longest biochar trials in sub-Saharan Africa. Here, we report effects on crop yield and soil properties over 10 years after applying biochar, produced mainly from Acacia spp., at a rate of 50 + 50 Mg ha−1 during the first two seasons. Maize (Zea mays) and soybean (Glycine max) were grown in rotation, with or without inorganic fertiliser, and crop yield was monitored. For comparison of soil properties, additional plots were kept in bare fallow. Biochar addition slightly increased soil porosity, pH, plant-available phosphorus and soil water-holding capacity. Crop yield responded positively to biochar at all sites and yield responses were similar with and without mineral fertiliser, i.e., the effects of biochar and mineral fertiliser were additive. The seasonal yield increase due to biochar application was in average around 1.2 Mg ha−1 for maize and 0.4 Mg for soybean, independently of fertilisation, over seasons and sites. Application of mineral fertiliser to maize increased maize yield by 1.6 Mg ha−1 and the subsequent, unfertilized soybean yield by 0.6 Mg ha−1, illustrating a carry-over effect. Most importantly, the effect on maize and soybean yield of adding biochar to soil persisted over the whole 10-year period. Analysis of the carbon (C) balance in topsoil indicated that about 40% of biochar C was apparently lost through mineralization, erosion or vertical translocation. Moreover, changes in soil carbon/nitrogen ratios indicated that biochar application increased nitrogen mineralization from native soil organic matter

The moisture response of soil heterotrophic respiration: Interaction with soil properties

Soil moisture is of primary importance for predicting the evolution of soil carbon stocks and fluxes, both because it strongly controls organic matter decomposition and because it is predicted to change at global scales in the following decades. However, the soil functions used to model the heterotrophic respiration response to moisture have limited empirical support and introduce an uncertainty of at least 4% in global soil carbon stock predictions by 2100. The necessity of improving the representation of this relationship in models has been highlighted in recent studies. Here we present a data-driven analysis of soil moisture-respiration relations based on 90 soils. With the use of linear models we show how the relationship between soil heterotrophic respiration and different measures of soil moisture is consistently affected by soil properties. The empirical models derived include main effects and moisture interaction effects of soil texture, organic carbon content and bulk density. When compared to other functions currently used in different soil biogeochemical models, we observe that our results can correct biases and reconcile differences within and between such functions. Ultimately, accurate predictions of the response of soil carbon to future climate scenarios will require the integration of soil-dependent moisture-respiration functions coupled with realistic representations of soil water dynamic

Soil carbon loss in warmed subarctic grasslands is rapid and restricted to topsoil

Global warming may lead to carbon transfers from soils to the atmosphere, yet this positive feedback to the climate system remains highly uncertain, especially in subsoils (Ilyina and Friedlingstein, 2016; Shi et al., 2018). Using natural geothermal soil warming gradients of up to +6.4 degrees C in subarctic grasslands (Sigurdsson et al., 2016), we show that soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks decline strongly and linearly with warming (-2.8 t ha(-1) degrees C-1). Comparison of SOC stock changes following medium-term (5 and 10 years) and long-term (> 50 years) warming revealed that all SOC stock reduction occurred within the first 5 years of warming, after which continued warming no longer reduced SOC stocks. This rapid equilibration of SOC observed in Andosol suggests a critical role for ecosystem adaptations to warming and could imply short-lived soil carbon-climate feedbacks. Our data further revealed that the soil C loss occurred in all aggregate size fractions and that SOC stock reduction was only visible in topsoil (0-10 cm). SOC stocks in subsoil (10-30 cm), where plant roots were absent, showed apparent conservation after > 50 years of warming. The observed depth-dependent warming responses indicate that explicit vertical resolution is a prerequisite for global models to accurately project future SOC stocks for this soil type and should be investigated for soils with other mineralogies

Comparing the Effect of Naturally Restored Forest and Grassland on Carbon Sequestration and Its Vertical Distribution in the Chinese Loess Plateau

Vegetation restoration has been conducted in the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP) since the 1950s, and large areas of farmland have been converted to forest and grassland, which largely results in SOC change. However, there has been little comparative research on SOC sequestration and distribution between secondary forest and restored grassland. Therefore, we selected typical secondary forest (SF-1 and SF-2) and restored grassland (RG-1 and RG-2) sites and determined the SOC storage. Moreover, to illustrate the factors resulting in possible variance in SOC sequestration, we measured the soil δ13C value. The average SOC content was 6.8, 9.9, 17.9 and 20.4 g kg−1 at sites SF-1, SF-2, RG-1 and RG-2, respectively. Compared with 0–100 cm depth, the percentage of SOC content in the top 20 cm was 55.1%, 55.3%, 23.1%, and 30.6% at sites SF-1, SF-2, RG-1 and RG-2, suggesting a higher SOC content in shallow layers in secondary forest and in deeper layers in restored grassland. The variation of soil δ13C values with depth in this study might be attributed to the mixing of new and old carbon and kinetic fractionation during the decomposition of SOM by microbes, whereas the impact of the Suess effect (the decline of 13C atmospheric CO2 values with the burning of fossil fuel since the Industrial Revolution) was minimal. The soil δ13C value increased sharply in the top 20 cm, which then increased slightly in deeper layers in secondary forest, indicating a main carbon source of surface litter. However the soil δ13C values exhibited slow increases in the whole profile in the restored grasslands, suggesting that the contribution of roots to soil carbon in deeper layers played an important role. We suggest that naturally restored grassland would be a more effective vegetation type for SOC sequestration due to higher carbon input from roots in the CLP