Litter Quality of Populus Species as Affected by Free-Air CO2

The effect of elevated CO2 and nitrogen fertilization on the molecular chemistry of litter of three Populus species and associated soil organic matter (SOM) was investigated by pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The results are based on 147 quantified organic compounds in 24 litter samples. Litter of P. euramerica was clearly different from that of P. nigra and P. alba. The latter two had higher contents of proteins, polysaccharides, and cutin/cutan, while the former had higher contents of phenols and benzofurans/pyrans. The difference between replications was at least as large as the effect of treatments, so that no systematic chemical changes were attributable to CO2 effect or N-fertilization effect. The chemistry of SOM under the various species and treatments did not show significant changes either. The low number of available replicates that is two was clearly insufficient to overcome the effect of spatial variation on litter chemistry and detect small differences in molecular litter chemistry

Soil Organic Matter Dynamics Upon Secondary Succession in Imperata Grassland, East Kalimantan, Indonesia

Soil organic matter (SOM) dynamics upon secondary succession in Imperata grassland was studied by stable carbon isotope analysis. The data of litter and soil samples of twenty plots in four different stages of succession were compared. These different stages were represented by plots that were; (1) last burned 3 years before sampling (Imperata grassland), (2) last burned 9 years before, (3) a secondary forest (≥15 years) and (4) a primary forest. Result showed that isotopic signatures of all soil horizons of the regeneration stages were statistically different from those of the primary forest. The A-horizon under the 3-years Imperata plot still contained 23% forest (C3) carbon, and this fraction increased to 51% in the-B-horizon. In the 9-years plot and in the secondary forest, the C3 carbon on the A-horizon increased to 51% and 96%, respectively. In the topsoil, the loss of C4-C between the 3-years and the 9-years plot was significant, while it appeared negligible in the AB-horizon. The strong decay in the topsoil under Imperata grassland may be due to the rather high carbohydrate content of the SOM, which is considered easily decomposable. Further research is needed especially to explore the relation between carbon stocks and chemical of SOM composition. Such insight may help to better understand and predict soil carbon changes in relation to climate and vegetation change

Determinants of soil organic matter chemistry in maritime temperate forest ecosystems

While the influence of climate, vegetation, management and abiotic site factors on total carbon budgets and turn-over is intensively assessed, the influences of these ecosystem properties on the chemical complexity of soil organic matter (SOM) remains poorly understood. This study addresses the chemical composition of NaOH-extracted SOM from maritime temperate forest sites in Flanders (Belgium) by pyrolysis-GC/MS. The studied forests were chosen based on dominant tree species (Pinus sylvestris, Fagus sylvatica, Quercus robur and Populus spp.), soil texture and soil-moisture conditions. Differences in extractable-SOM pyrolysis products were correlated to site variables including dominant tree species, management of the woody biomass, site history, soil properties, total carbon stocks and indicators for microbial activity. Despite of a typical high intercorrelation between these site variables, the influence of the dominant tree species is prominent. The extractable-SOM composition is strongly correlated to litter quality and available nutrients. In nutrient-poor forests with low litter quality, the decomposition of relatively recalcitrant compounds (i.e. short and mid-chain alkanes/alkenes and aromatic compounds) appears hampered, causing a relative accumulation of these compounds in the soil. However, if substrate quality is favorable, no accumulations of recalcitrant compounds were observed, not even under high soil-moisture conditions. Former heathland vegetation still had a profound influence on extractable-SOM chemistry of young pine forests after a minimum of 60 year

Paleopedology and stratigraphy on the Condrusian peneplain (Belgium) : with a reconstruction of a paleosol

Fossil soil remnants on the Condrusian peneplain and in its surroundings were described and, if possible, dated. These soils are mainly of Tertiary age. In this way a number of important remnants of fossil soils were classified: the flint eluvium, that was formed during the Paleocene and Eocene; the Neerrepen soil from the Lower Oligocene; the Boncelles 1 and 2 soils from the Upper Oligocene; the Boncelles 3 soil and the Andenne soil, that developed during the Lower and Middle Miocene; a Middle Miocene root horizon; the Onx soil that was formed during Upper Miocene-Pliocene and the Bolderberg and Heerlerheide soils from the Pliocene.The Andenne soil, a Miocene soil on Carboniferous limestone that formed the material called 'Andenne clay', was reconstructed. Leaching of silica in this soil appeared to have resulted in the chert caps that are still found on Carboniferous limestone.The stratigraphic value of a particular soil profile depends strongly on the region where it is found.Finally, some conclusions were made about the stratigraphic position of Tertiary sediments (Onx -gravels) and the time in which some features developed. The Onx deposits are placed in the Middle Miocene; formation of dolinas in Carboniferous rocks is thought to have begun during the Early Oligocene. Dissection of the Condrusian peneplain started as early as the Middle Miocene

Red Soils in Indonesia

+169hlm.;23c

Weathering processes and mineral neoformation at serpentinite areas from Galicia (Spain)

[Resumen] Se realiza un estudio de muestreos en distintos grados de alteración, desde roca fresca a fracción arcilla de horizontes edáficos. El orden de movilidades geoquímicas es Mg > Si, Ca > Na»Al = Fe, en una primera etapa, y un mayor enriquecimiento en Fe en los estadios más avanzados. El grado de alteración aleanzado se encuentra en una posición intermedia al obtenido para este tipo de rocas en áreas mediterráneas y tropicales y siempre es mucho menor que el observado sobre otros materiales básicos de Galicia. A pesar de que termodinámicamente las soluciones de suelos y arroyos se sitúan en un campo intermedio entre filosilicatos 1/1 Y2/1, estos últimos en medios de peor drenaje, la escasez de Al inhibe la formación de arcillas de tipo caolinita, siendo los productos de neoformación típicos en los medios más evolucionados oxihidrósidos de Fe y precipitados silíceos.[Abstract] In a serpentinite area several samples with different degrees of weathering, ranging from fresh rock to clay fractions of soil horizons, were studied. During weathering, the geochemical mobility of the elements follows the order Mg > Si, Ca > Na» Al = Fe in the initial phases, showing a gre.ater aproach to Fe pole in more advanced stages. The intensity of weathering is intermediate between that obtained for serpentinites in mediterranean and tropical areas, and never reachs the high levels found in other basic rocks of Galicia. The composition of stream waters and soil solutions falls between the stability fields of 1/1 and 2/ llayer silicates, last ones mostly in poorly drained areas. In spite of this fact, the scarcity of Al inhibit the formation of kaolinite; iron oxihidroxides and precipitated silica being the most typical secondary products in the more envolved environments