Soil organic matter interactions along the elevation gradient of the James Ross Island (Antarctica)

<p>Around half of the Earth's soil organic carbon (SOC) is presently stored in the Northern Hemisphere permafrost region. In polar permafrost regions, low temperatures particularly inhibit both the production and biodegradation of organic matter. Under such conditions, abiotic factors su...

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Main Authors: V. Vlček, D. Juřička, M. Valtera, H. Dvořáčková, V. Štulc, M. Bednaříková, J. Šimečková, P. Váczi, M. Pohanka, P. Kapler, M. Barták, V. Enev
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Copernicus Publications 2024-11-01
Series:SOIL
Online Access:https://soil.copernicus.org/articles/10/813/2024/soil-10-813-2024.pdf
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author V. Vlček
D. Juřička
M. Valtera
H. Dvořáčková
V. Štulc
M. Bednaříková
J. Šimečková
P. Váczi
M. Pohanka
P. Kapler
M. Barták
V. Enev
author_facet V. Vlček
D. Juřička
M. Valtera
H. Dvořáčková
V. Štulc
M. Bednaříková
J. Šimečková
P. Váczi
M. Pohanka
P. Kapler
M. Barták
V. Enev
author_sort V. Vlček
collection DOAJ
description <p>Around half of the Earth's soil organic carbon (SOC) is presently stored in the Northern Hemisphere permafrost region. In polar permafrost regions, low temperatures particularly inhibit both the production and biodegradation of organic matter. Under such conditions, abiotic factors such as mesoclimate, pedogenic substrate or altitude are thought to be more important for soil development than biological factors. In Antarctica, biological factors are generally underestimated in soil development due to the rare occurrence of higher plants and the short time since deglaciation. In this study, we aim to assess the relationship between SOC and other soil properties related to the pedogenic factors or properties. Nine plots were investigated along the altitudinal gradient from 10 to 320 m in the deglaciated area of James Ross Island (Ulu Peninsula) using a parallel tea-bag decomposition experiment. SOC contents showed a positive correlation with the content of easily extractable glomalin-related soil protein (EE-GRSP; Spearman <span class="inline-formula"><i>r</i>=0.733</span>, <span class="inline-formula"><i>P</i>=0.031</span>) and the soil buffering capacity (expressed as <span class="inline-formula">Δ</span>pH; Spearman <span class="inline-formula"><i>r</i>=0.817</span>, <span class="inline-formula"><i>P</i>=0.011</span>). The soil-available P was negatively correlated with altitude (Spearman <span class="inline-formula"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M6" display="inline" overflow="scroll" dspmath="mathml"><mrow><mi>r</mi><mo>=</mo><mo>-</mo><mn mathvariant="normal">0.711</mn></mrow></math><span><svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="55pt" height="10pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="7148a909bb34bdb2df1009de6e6c5689"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="soil-10-813-2024-ie00001.svg" width="55pt" height="10pt" src="soil-10-813-2024-ie00001.png"/></svg:svg></span></span>, <span class="inline-formula"><i>P</i>=0.032</span>), and the exchangeable Mg was negatively correlated with the rock fragment content (Spearman <span class="inline-formula"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M8" display="inline" overflow="scroll" dspmath="mathml"><mrow><mi>r</mi><mo>=</mo><mo>-</mo><mn mathvariant="normal">0.683</mn></mrow></math><span><svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="55pt" height="10pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="367107d415f8d56a3622e3ec206d61c1"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="soil-10-813-2024-ie00002.svg" width="55pt" height="10pt" src="soil-10-813-2024-ie00002.png"/></svg:svg></span></span>, <span class="inline-formula"><i>P</i>=0.050</span>). No correlation was found between the available mineral nutrients (P, K, Ca and Mg) and SOC or GRSP. This may be a consequence of the inhibition of biologically mediated nutrient cycling in the soil. Therefore, the main factor influencing nutrient availability in these soils does not seem to the biotic environment; rather, the main impact appears to stem from the abiotic environment influencing the mesoclimate (altitude) or the level of weathering (rock content). Incubation in tea bags for 45 d resulted in the consumption and translocation of more labile polyphenolic and water-extractable organic matter, along with changes in the C content (increase of up to <span class="inline-formula">+0.53</span> % or decrease of up to <span class="inline-formula">−1.31</span> % C) and a decrease in the <span class="inline-formula">C:N</span> ratio (from 12.5 to 7.1–10.2), probably due to microbial respiration and an increase in the abundance of nitrogen-binding microorganisms. Our findings suggest that one of the main variables influencing the SOC/GRSP content is not the altitude or coarse-fraction content (for which a correlation with SOC/GRSP was not<span id="page814"/> found); rather, we suspect effects from other factors that are difficult to quantify, such as the availability of liquid water.</p>
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spelling doaj-art-574be9624e4c42688a2cd0e6ddc8539f2024-11-19T14:19:24ZengCopernicus PublicationsSOIL2199-39712199-398X2024-11-011081382610.5194/soil-10-813-2024Soil organic matter interactions along the elevation gradient of the James Ross Island (Antarctica)V. Vlček0D. Juřička1M. Valtera2H. Dvořáčková3V. Štulc4M. Bednaříková5J. Šimečková6P. Váczi7M. Pohanka8P. Kapler9M. Barták10V. Enev11Department of Agrochemistry, Soil Science, Microbiology and Plant Nutrition, Faculty of AgriSciences, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 1, 613 00 Brno, Czech RepublicDepartment of Geology and Soil Science, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 3, 613 00 Brno, Czech RepublicDepartment of Forest Botany, Dendrology and Geobiocoenology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 3, 613 00 Brno, Czech RepublicDepartment of Agrochemistry, Soil Science, Microbiology and Plant Nutrition, Faculty of AgriSciences, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 1, 613 00 Brno, Czech RepublicDepartment of Agrochemistry, Soil Science, Microbiology and Plant Nutrition, Faculty of AgriSciences, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 1, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic Department of Experimental Biology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, 625 00 Brno, Czech RepublicDepartment of Agrochemistry, Soil Science, Microbiology and Plant Nutrition, Faculty of AgriSciences, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 1, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic Department of Experimental Biology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, 625 00 Brno, Czech RepublicFaculty of Military Health Sciences, University of Defence, Třebešská 1575, 500 01 Hradec Králové, Czech RepublicDepartment of Geography, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic Department of Experimental Biology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, 625 00 Brno, Czech RepublicInstitute of Physical and Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Brno University of Technology, Purkynova 118, 612 00 Brno, Czech Republic<p>Around half of the Earth's soil organic carbon (SOC) is presently stored in the Northern Hemisphere permafrost region. In polar permafrost regions, low temperatures particularly inhibit both the production and biodegradation of organic matter. Under such conditions, abiotic factors such as mesoclimate, pedogenic substrate or altitude are thought to be more important for soil development than biological factors. In Antarctica, biological factors are generally underestimated in soil development due to the rare occurrence of higher plants and the short time since deglaciation. In this study, we aim to assess the relationship between SOC and other soil properties related to the pedogenic factors or properties. Nine plots were investigated along the altitudinal gradient from 10 to 320 m in the deglaciated area of James Ross Island (Ulu Peninsula) using a parallel tea-bag decomposition experiment. SOC contents showed a positive correlation with the content of easily extractable glomalin-related soil protein (EE-GRSP; Spearman <span class="inline-formula"><i>r</i>=0.733</span>, <span class="inline-formula"><i>P</i>=0.031</span>) and the soil buffering capacity (expressed as <span class="inline-formula">Δ</span>pH; Spearman <span class="inline-formula"><i>r</i>=0.817</span>, <span class="inline-formula"><i>P</i>=0.011</span>). The soil-available P was negatively correlated with altitude (Spearman <span class="inline-formula"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M6" display="inline" overflow="scroll" dspmath="mathml"><mrow><mi>r</mi><mo>=</mo><mo>-</mo><mn mathvariant="normal">0.711</mn></mrow></math><span><svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="55pt" height="10pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="7148a909bb34bdb2df1009de6e6c5689"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="soil-10-813-2024-ie00001.svg" width="55pt" height="10pt" src="soil-10-813-2024-ie00001.png"/></svg:svg></span></span>, <span class="inline-formula"><i>P</i>=0.032</span>), and the exchangeable Mg was negatively correlated with the rock fragment content (Spearman <span class="inline-formula"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M8" display="inline" overflow="scroll" dspmath="mathml"><mrow><mi>r</mi><mo>=</mo><mo>-</mo><mn mathvariant="normal">0.683</mn></mrow></math><span><svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="55pt" height="10pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="367107d415f8d56a3622e3ec206d61c1"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="soil-10-813-2024-ie00002.svg" width="55pt" height="10pt" src="soil-10-813-2024-ie00002.png"/></svg:svg></span></span>, <span class="inline-formula"><i>P</i>=0.050</span>). No correlation was found between the available mineral nutrients (P, K, Ca and Mg) and SOC or GRSP. This may be a consequence of the inhibition of biologically mediated nutrient cycling in the soil. Therefore, the main factor influencing nutrient availability in these soils does not seem to the biotic environment; rather, the main impact appears to stem from the abiotic environment influencing the mesoclimate (altitude) or the level of weathering (rock content). Incubation in tea bags for 45 d resulted in the consumption and translocation of more labile polyphenolic and water-extractable organic matter, along with changes in the C content (increase of up to <span class="inline-formula">+0.53</span> % or decrease of up to <span class="inline-formula">−1.31</span> % C) and a decrease in the <span class="inline-formula">C:N</span> ratio (from 12.5 to 7.1–10.2), probably due to microbial respiration and an increase in the abundance of nitrogen-binding microorganisms. Our findings suggest that one of the main variables influencing the SOC/GRSP content is not the altitude or coarse-fraction content (for which a correlation with SOC/GRSP was not<span id="page814"/> found); rather, we suspect effects from other factors that are difficult to quantify, such as the availability of liquid water.</p>https://soil.copernicus.org/articles/10/813/2024/soil-10-813-2024.pdf
spellingShingle V. Vlček
D. Juřička
M. Valtera
H. Dvořáčková
V. Štulc
M. Bednaříková
J. Šimečková
P. Váczi
M. Pohanka
P. Kapler
M. Barták
V. Enev
Soil organic matter interactions along the elevation gradient of the James Ross Island (Antarctica)
SOIL
title Soil organic matter interactions along the elevation gradient of the James Ross Island (Antarctica)
title_full Soil organic matter interactions along the elevation gradient of the James Ross Island (Antarctica)
title_fullStr Soil organic matter interactions along the elevation gradient of the James Ross Island (Antarctica)
title_full_unstemmed Soil organic matter interactions along the elevation gradient of the James Ross Island (Antarctica)
title_short Soil organic matter interactions along the elevation gradient of the James Ross Island (Antarctica)
title_sort soil organic matter interactions along the elevation gradient of the james ross island antarctica
url https://soil.copernicus.org/articles/10/813/2024/soil-10-813-2024.pdf
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