Organic carbon stratification and size distribution of three typical paddy soils from Taihu Lake region, China

Developing realistic soil carbon (C) sequestration strategies for China’s sustainable agriculture relies on accurate estimates of the amount, retention and turnover rates of C stored in paddy soils. Available C estimates to date are predominantly for the tilled and flood-irrigated surface topsoil (ca. 30 cm). Such estimates cannot be used to extrapolate to soil depths of 100 cm since soil organic carbon (SOC) generally shows a sharp decrease with depth. In this research, composite soil samples were collected at several depths to 100 cm from three representative paddy soils in the Taihu Lake region, China. Soil organic carbon distribution in the profiles and in aggregate-size fractions was determined. Results showed that while SOC decreased exponentially with depth to 100 cm, a substantial proportion of the total SOC (30%–40%) is stored below the 30 cm depth. In the carbon-enriched paddy topsoils, SOC was found to accumulate preferentially in the 2–0.25 and 0.25–0.02 mm aggregate size fractions. σ13C analysis of the coarse micro-aggregate fraction showed that the high degree of C stratification in the paddy topsoil was in agreement with the occurrence of lighter @1313C in the upper 30 cm depth. These results suggest that SOC stratification within profiles varies with di erent pedogenetical types of paddy soils with regards to clay and iron oxyhydrates distributions. Sand-sized fractions of aggregates in paddy soil systems may play a very important role in carbon sequestration and turnover, dissimilar to other studied agricultural systems.     

Effect of N and P addition on soil organic C potential mineralization in forest soils in South China

Atmospheric nitrogen deposition is at a high level in some forests of South China. The effects of addition of exogenous N and P on soil organic carbon mineralization were studied to address: (1) if the atmospheric N deposition promotes soil C storage through decreasing mineralization; (2) if the soil available P is a limitation to organic carbon mineralization. Soils (0-10 cm) was sampled from monsoon evergreen broad-leaved forest (MEBF), coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forest (CBMF), and Pinus massoniana...     

Effect of long-term fertilization on C mineralization and production of CH4 and CO2 under anaerobic incubation from bulk samples and particle size fractions of a typical paddy soil

Impacts of nutrient management on C mineralization and greenhouse gas (GHGs) emission from soils have been of much concern in global change. Using laboratory incubation, the production of CH₄ and CO₂ were studied from both bulk samples and the particle size fractions (PSF) of topsoil from a paddy under a long-term different fertilization trial (including non (NF), chemical without (CF) and with manure (CFM) fertilization, respectively) in the Tai Lake Region, China. Four PSFs (2000–200, 200–20, 20–2, <2 μm) were separated from undisturbed samples collected after rice harvest by a low-energy ultrasonic dispersion procedure. Both the bulk samples and PSFs were incubated under submerged condition for 72 days. The concentration of CH₄ and CO₂ evolved during incubation were determined by gas chromatography. C mineralization rates ranged from 0.13 to 0.52 mg C g⁻¹ C day⁻¹, with different fertilizations and size of the PSFs, and were not correlated with C/N ratio. While CO₂ production predominated over CH₄ from C mineralization from both bulk samples and the size fractions, CH₄ production played a predominant role in the total global warming potential (GWP) under all treatments. C mineralization of bulk soil was significantly higher under CF than under CFM and NF. CH₄ production, however, was 3 times as under CFM and 27 times as under NF, indicating a tremendous effect of chemical fertilization alone on the total GWP. CO₂ production from the PSFs differed from CH₄ under a single treatment, which was notably from the coarse PSFs larger than 200 μm. Higher C mineralization and CH₄ production with a higher metabolic quotient under CF implicated a vulnerability of soil functioning of GHGs mitigation in the paddy receiving chemical fertilizers only. Thus, rational organic amendments should be undertaken for mitigating the climate change.