Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-2018
Publication Title
Soil Biology and Biochemistry
Disciplines
Agricultural Science | Biology
Abstract
Mineral-associated organic matter (MAOM) is a relatively large and stable fraction of soil organic matter (SOM). Plant litters with high rates of mineralization (high quality litters) are hypothesized to promote the accumulation of MAOM with greater efficiency than plant litters with low rates of mineralization (low-quality litters) because litters with high rates of mineralization maximize the synthesis of microbial products and most MAOM is microbial-derived. However, the effect of litter quality on MAOM is inconsistent. We conducted four repeated short-term incubations (46-d each) of four plant litters (alfalfa, oats, maize and soybean) in two low-carbon subsoils (sandy loam and silty loam) with and without nutrient addition. Our short-term incubations focused on the initial stage of litter decomposition during the time when litter quality has a measureable effect on mineralization rates. Plant litter quality had a much greater effect on litter-C mineralization rate and MAOM-C accumulation than did soil type or nutrient addition. Soils amended with high-quality oat and alfalfa litters had greater MAOM-C accumulation than soils amended with low-quality maize and soybean litters. However, soils amended with high-quality litters also had greater litter-C mineralization than soils amended with low-quality litters. As a result, the accumulation of MAOM-C per unit of litter-C mineralization was lower in soils amended with high-vs. low-quality litters (0.65 vs. 1.39 g MAOM-C accumulated g−1 C mineralized). Cellulose and hemicelluose indices of accumulated MAOM were greater for maize and soybean than oats and alfalfa, however, most carbohydrates in MAOM were plant-derived regardless of litter quality. At the end of the incubations, more of the accumulated MAOM-N was potentially mineralizable in soils amended with high quality litters. Nevertheless, most of the litter-C remained as residual litter; just 12% was mineralized to CO2 and 13% was transferred to MAOM. Our results demonstrate several unexpected effects of litter quality on MAOM stabilization including the direct stabilization of plant-derived carbohydrates.
DOI
10.1016/j.soilbio.2018.07.010
Version
Postprint
Recommended Citation
Córdova, S. Carolina; Olk, Dan C.; Dietzel, Ranae N.; Mueller, Kevin E.; Archontouilis, Sotirios V.; and Castellano, Michael J., "Plant Litter Quality Affects the Accumulation Rate, Composition, and Stability of Mineral-associated Soil Organic Matter" (2018). Biological, Geological, and Environmental Faculty Publications. 98.
https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/scibges_facpub/98
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Volume
125
Comments
Link to publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2018.07.010
This work was funded by the Iowa State University Plant Sciences Institute Faculty Scholar Program, the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture Foundational programs (grant number 2014-67019-21629) and the Secretaria de Educacion Superior, Ciencia, Tecnologia e Innovacion from the Ecuadorian Government.