SpringerLink
Log in

Site related δ13C of vegetation and soil organic carbon in a cool temperate region

  • Regular Article
  • Published:
Plant and Soil Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

While soil organic matter 13C isotope helped evaluate vegetation-related change in soil organic carbon (SOC), less is understood about δ13CSOC and SOC in reforested ecosystems.

Methods

To assess native vegetation (vegetation predominant in the region prior to deforestation) and the effect of reforestation on SOC, we studied δ13C of plant, litter and SOC in reforested red pine, chestnut, mixed stands and silvergrass, and compared them with bare land.

Results

After 40 years, reforestation increased SOC by 82.86% and 24.90% in 0–10 cm and by 45.96% and 24.85% in 0–30 cm depths in chestnut and mixed stands, respectively. However, SOC content decreased in red pine and silvergrass in both 0–10 cm and 0–30 cm depths. δ13CSOC in red pine, chestnut, mixed stands, and bare land increased (∆13C 2.4–5.9‰) from L-layer to 1 m soil depth and indicated C3 vegetation was long-term component of the area. In contrast, δ13CSOC values are more depleted than expected in silvergrass (∆13C −9.7‰), and similar to reforested soil. This indicates its recent colonization in area occupied previously by C3 species. Regression coefficient-β, indicated isotopic fractionation during SOC decomposition/humification and physical mixing that occurs during C turnover in well-drained soil. The δ13CSOC based estimated proportion of new carbon (f new) and decomposition rate (k) were higher in chestnut and mixed stand, and their turnover time was shorter than red pine and silvergrass.

Conclusion

Results suggest that reforested species impact soil C decay rate and turnover, and soil ability to maintain SOC stocks post deforestation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Acton P, Fox J, Campbell E, Rowe H, Wilkinson M (2013) Carbon isotopes for estimating soil decomposition and physical mixing in well-drained forest soils. J Geophys Res-Biogeos 118:1532–1545

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Balesdent J, Girardin C, Mariotti A (1993) Site-related δ13C of tree leaves and soil organic matter in a temperate forest. Ecology 746:1713–1721

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beniston JW, DuPont ST, Glover JD, Lal R, Dungait JA (2014) Soil organic carbon dynamics 75 years after land-use change in perennial grassland and annual wheat agricultural systems. Biogeochemistry 120:37–49

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Benner R, Fogel ML, Sprague K, Hodson RE (1987) Depletion of 13C in lignin and its implications for stable carbon isotope studies. Nature 329:708–710

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Biedenbender SH, McClaran MP, Quade J, Weltz MA (2004) Landscape patterns of vegetation change indicated by soil carbon isotope composition. Geoderma 119:69–83

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Billings SA, Richter DD (2006) Changes in stable isotopic signatures of soil nitrogen and carbon during 40 years of forest development. Oecologia 148:325–333

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Blagodatskaya E, Yuyukina T, Blagodatsky S, Kuzyakov Y (2011) Turnover of soil organic matter and of microbial biomass under C3–C4 vegetation change: consideration of 13C fractionation and preferential substrate utilization. Soil Biol Biochem 43:159–166

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Blume E, Bischoff M, Reichert JM, Moorman T, Konopka A, Turco R (2002) Surface and subsurface microbial biomass, community structure and metabolic activity as a function of soil depth and season. Appl Soil Ecol 20:171–181

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boström B, Comstedt D, Ekblad A (2007) Isotope fractionation and 13C enrichment in soil profiles during the decomposition of soil organic matter. Oecologia 153:89–98

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Boutton TW, Archer SR, Midwood AJ, Zitzer SF, Bol R (1998) δ13C values of soil organic carbon and their use in documenting vegetation change in a subtropical savanna ecosystem. Geoderma 821:5–41

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brüggemann N, Gessler A, Kayler Z, Keel SG, Badeck F, Barthel M, Gavrichkova O (2011) Carbon allocation and carbon isotope fluxes in the plant-soil-atmosphere continuum: a review. Biogeosciences 8:3457–3489

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen L, Gong J, Fu B, Huang Z, Huang Y, Gui L (2007) Effect of land use conversion on soil organic carbon sequestration in the loess hilly area, loess plateau of China. Ecol Res 22:641–648

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheng X, Yang Y, Li M, Dou X, Zhang Q (2013) The impact of agricultural land use changes on soil organic carbon dynamics in the Danjiangkou reservoir area of China. Plant Soil 366:415–424

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chiang PN, Wang MK, Chiu CY, King HB, Hwong JL (2004) Changes in the grassland-forest boundary at ta-ta-chia long term ecological research LTER site detected by stable isotope ratios of soil organic matter. Chemosphere 542:217–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeGryze S, Six J, Paustian K, Morris SJ, Paul EA, Merckx R (2004) Soil organic carbon pool changes following land-use conversions. Glob Change Biol 10:1120–1132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Del Galdo I, Six J, Peressotti A, Cotrufo FM (2003) Assessing the impact of land-use change on soil C sequestration in agricultural soils by means of organic matter fractionation and stable C isotopes. Glob Change Biol 98:1204–1213

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deng L, Liu GB, Shangguan ZP (2014) Land-use conversion and changing soil carbon stocks in China's ‘grain-for-Green’Program: a synthesis. Glob Change Biol 20:3544–3556

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deng L, Wang K, Tang Z, Shangguan Z (2016) Soil organic carbon dynamics following natural vegetation restoration: evidence from stable carbon isotopes δ13C. Agric Ecosyst Environ 221:235–244

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Diochon A, Kellman L (2008) Natural abundance measurements of 13C indicate increased deep soil carbon mineralization after forest disturbance. Geophys Res Lett 3514

  • Dou X, Deng Q, Li M, Wang W, Zhang Q, Cheng X (2013) Reforestation of Pinus massoniana alters soil organic carbon and nitrogen dynamics in eroded soil in south China. Ecol Eng 52:154–160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ehleringer JR, Buchmann N, Flanagan LB (2000) Carbon isotope ratios in belowground carbon cycle processes. Ecol Appl 102:412–422

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • von Fischer JC, Tieszen LL (1995) Carbon isotope characterization of vegetation and soil organic matter in subtropical forests in Luquillo, Puerto Rico. Biotropica 27:138–148

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Friedli H, Lӧtscher H, Oeschger H, Siegenthaler U (1986) Ice core record of the 13C/12C ratio of atmospheric CO2 in the past two centuries. Nature 324:237–238

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Garten CT Jr (2006) Relationships among forest soil C isotopic composition, partitioning, and turnover times. Can J For Res 36:2157–2167

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Garten CT, Cooper LW, Post WM, Hanson PJ (2000) Climate controls on forest soil C isotope ratios in the southern Appalachian Mountains. Ecology 81:1108–1119

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gautam MK, Lee KS, Song BY, Lee D, Bong YS (2016) Early-stage changes in natural 13C and 15N abundance and nutrient dynamics during different litter decomposition. J Plant Res 129:463–476

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gillson L, Waldron S, Willis KJ (2004) Interpretation of soil δ13C as an indicator of vegetation change in African savannas. J Veg Sci 15:339–350

    Google Scholar 

  • Guillaume T, Damris M, Kuzyakov Y (2015) Losses of soil carbon by converting tropical forest to plantations: erosion and decomposition estimated by δ13C. Glob Change Biol 21:3548–3560

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guo LB, Gifford RM (2002) Soil carbon stocks and land use change: a meta-analysis. Glob Change Biol 8:345–360

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hobbie EA, Macko SA, Shugart HH (1999) Insights into nitrogen and carbon dynamics of ectomycorrhizal and saprotrophic fungi from isotopic evidence. Oecologia 118:353–360

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Högberg P, Ekblad A, Nordgren A, Plamboeck AH, Ohlsson A, Bhupinderpal-Singh HM (2005) Factors determining the 13C abundance of soil-respired CO2 in boreal forests. In: Flanagan LB, Ehleringer JR, Pataki DE (eds) Stable isotopes and biosphere–atmosphere interactions: processes and biological controls. Elsevier, New York, pp 47–68

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Jackson RB, Canadell J, Ehleringer JR, Mooney HA, Sala OE, Schulze E-D (1996) A global analysis of root distributions for terrestrial biomes. Oecologia 108:389–411

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jessup KE, Barnes PW, Boutton TW (2003) Vegetation dynamics in a Quercus-Juniperus Savanna: an isotopic assessment. J Veg Sci 14:841–852

    Google Scholar 

  • Jobbágy EG, Jackson RB (2000) The vertical distribution of soil organic carbon and its relation to climate and vegetation. Ecol appli 10:423–436

  • Lee SD, Miller-Rushing AJ (2014) Degradation, urbanization, and restoration: a review of the challenges and future of conservation on the Korean peninsula. Biol Conserv 176:262–276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marin-Spiotta E, Silver WL, Swanston CW, Ostertag R (2009) Soil organic matter dynamics during 80 years of reforestation of tropical pastures. Glob Change Biol 15:1584–1597

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mariotti A, Peterschmitt E (1994) Forest savanna ecotone dynamics in India as revealed by carbon isotope ratios of soil organic matter. Oecologia 97:475–480

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Martinelli LA, Almeida S, Brown IF, Moreira MZ, Victoria RL, Sternberg LSL, Thomas WW (1998) Stable carbon isotope ratio of tree leaves, boles and fine litter in a tropical forest in Rondonia, Brazil. Oecologia 114:170–179

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Menichetti L, Houot S, Van Oort F, Kätterer T, Christensen BT, Chenu C, Ekblad A (2015) Increase in soil stable carbon isotope ratio relates to loss of organic carbon: results from five long-term bare fallow experiments. Oecologia 177:811–821

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nadelhoffer KJ, Fry B (1988) Controls on natural nitrogen-15 and carbon-13 abundances in forest soil organic matter. Soil Sci Soc Am J 52:1633–1640

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Powers JS, Schlesinger WH (2004) Geographic and vertical patterns of stable carbon isotopes in tropical rain forest soils of Costa Rica. Geoderma 109:141–160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Risk D, Kellman L, Moroni M (2009) Characterization of spatial variability and patterns in tree and soil δ13C at forested sites in eastern Canada. Isot Environ Health S 45:220–230

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Šantrůčková H, Bird MI, Lloyd J (2000) Microbial processes and carbon-isotope fractionation in tropical and temperate grassland soils. Funct Ecol 14:108–114

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schleser GH, Frielingsdorf J, Blair A (1999) Carbon isotope behaviour in wood and cellulose during artificial aging. Chem Geol 158:121–130

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schwendenmann L, Pendall E (2006) Effects of forest conversion into grassland on soil aggregate structure and carbon storage in Panama: evidence from soil carbon fractionation and stable isotopes. Plant Soil 288:217–232

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Smith DL, Johnson LC (2003) Expansion of Juniperus virginiana L. in the Great Plains: changes in soil organic carbon dynamics. Global Biogeochem Cycles 17:1062

  • Stanturf JA (2015) Restoration of boreal and temperate forests, vol 13. CRC Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Tieszen LL, Archer S (1990) Isotopic assessment of vegetation changes in grassland and woodland systems. In: Plant biology of the basin and range. Springer, Berlin, pp 293–321

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Van Dam D, van Breemen N, Veldkamp E (1997) Soil organic carbon dynamics: variability with depth in forested and deforested soils under pasture in Costa Rica. Biogeochemistry 39:343–375

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang Q, Wang S, Zhang J (2009) Assessing the effects of vegetation types on carbon storage fifteen years after reforestation on a Chinese fir site. For Ecol Manag 258:1437–1441

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wei X, Li X, Jia X, Shao M (2013) Accumulation of soil organic carbon in aggregates after afforestation on abandoned farmland. Biol Fertil Soils 49:637–646

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wynn JG, Harden JW, Fries TL (2006) Stable carbon isotope depth profiles and soil organic carbon dynamics in the lower Mississippi Basin. Geoderma 131:89–109

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang K, Dang H, Zhang Q, Cheng X (2015) Soil carbon dynamics following land-use change varied with temperature and precipitation gradients: evidence from stable isotopes. Glob Chang Biol 21:2762–2772

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Ryu Jong-Sik for the assistance in sample analyses. This work was supported by Korea Basic Science Institute Grant (C35701). We are thankful to the two anonymous reviewers for reviewing the manuscript and for providing comments that helped in improving the quality of paper. We also extend our thanks to handling editor.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Mukesh Kumar Gautam

    Present address: Department of Natural Sciences, Baruch College, City University of New York, New York, NY, 10010, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Earth & Environmental Sciences, Korea Basic Science Institute, Ochang-eup, Cheongwon-gun, Chungbuk, 363-883, Republic of Korea

    Mukesh Kumar Gautam, Kwang-Sik Lee & Yeon-Sik Bong

  2. Forensic Chemistry Department, National Forensic Service, 10, Ipchun-ro, Wonju-si, Gangwon-do, Republic of Korea

    Byeong-Yeol Song

Authors
  1. Mukesh Kumar Gautam
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kwang-Sik Lee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Byeong-Yeol Song
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Yeon-Sik Bong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

MKG, and KSL conceived and designed the experiments. MKG and BYS executed, performed and collected the data from the field explorations. MKG, BYS, and YSB analyzed the samples. MKG, BSY and KSL processed and analyzed the data. MKG an KSL and wrote the paper. KSL provided the logistic support and funding for the study.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mukesh Kumar Gautam.

Ethics declarations

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Funding

None.

Additional information

Responsible Editor: Zucong Cai.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Gautam, M.K., Lee, KS., Song, BY. et al. Site related δ13C of vegetation and soil organic carbon in a cool temperate region. Plant Soil 418, 293–306 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-017-3284-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-017-3284-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation