home    about    browse    search    latest    help 
Login | Create Account

Dynamic stability of mineral-associated organic matter: enhanced stability and turnover through organic fertilization in a temperate agricultural topsoil

Mayer, Marius; Leifeld, Jens; Szidat, Sönke; Mäder, Paul; Krause, Hans-Martin and Steffens, Markus (2023) Dynamic stability of mineral-associated organic matter: enhanced stability and turnover through organic fertilization in a temperate agricultural topsoil. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 184, pp. 1-10.

[thumbnail of mayer-etal-2023-SoilBiologyChemistry-Vol184-p1-10.pdf] PDF - Published Version - English
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.

2MB

Document available online at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0038071723001578


Summary in the original language of the document

Soil organic matter (SOM) plays a vital role for soil quality, sustainable food production and climate change mitigation. It is common knowledge that SOM consists of different pools with varying qualities, quantities, and turnover times. However, it is still poorly understood how mineral and organic fertilization affects the formation and stabilization of mineral-associated organic matter (MAOM) and how long it can remain there. Here, we report on the long-term effects of different farming systems on the stability and turnover of the fine silt and clay-sized MAOM fraction (<6.3 μm) of a Haplic Luvisol (0–20 cm) in the DOK long-term trial (Switzerland). We compared three farming systems with contrasting fertilization (CONMIN = pure mineral, CONFYM = mineral + organic, BIODYN = pure organic) with an unfertilized control (NOFERT) between 1982 and 2017. We performed specific surface area (SSA) measurements on fractionated MAOM samples (<6.3 μm) from 1982 to 2017, before and after removal of OM, measured the 14C activity of all samples during the entire period and estimated the mean residence time (MRT) with a model taking into account ‘bomb 14C’ and radioactive decay. We found constant MAOM-C contents under organic fertilization. Results of SSA analysis indicate best conditions for MAOM-C stabilization under organic fertilization and different sorption mechanisms in MAOM between farming systems with and without organic fertilization. The modelled MRTs were significantly higher in NOFERT (238 ± 40 yrs) and CONMIN (195 ± 27 yrs), compared to CONFYM (138 ± 18 yrs) and BIODYN (140 ± 19 yrs), implying a high C turnover (i.e. more active MAOM) at high C contents under organic fertilization. Our findings show that MAOM is not the dead OM but corroborates the concept of ‘dynamic stability’. Continuous OM inputs from organic fertilizers and their rapid and constant turnover are needed to stabilize the “stable” MAOM-C fraction.


EPrint Type:Journal paper
Keywords:Mean residence time, Specific surface area, Mineral-associated organic matter, Long-term trial, Farming system comparison, Fertilization, Abacus, FiBL10125, DynaCarb
Agrovoc keywords:
Language
Value
URI
English
long-term experiments
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_4f8733aa
English
soil organic matter
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_35657
English
fertilisers -> fertilizers
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_2867
English
farming systems
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_2807
Subjects: Soil > Soil quality
Crop husbandry > Composting and manuring
Research affiliation: Switzerland > Agroscope > ART - Reckenholz location
Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > Crops > Field trials > Long-term experiments
Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > Soil > Soil fertility
Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > Crops > Field trials > Systems comparison
Switzerland > University of Bern
DOI:10.1016/j.soilbio.2023.109095
Related Links:https://www.fibl.org/en/themes/projectdatabase/projectitem/project/1544
Deposited By: Forschungsinstitut für biologischen Landbau, FiBL
ID Code:51705
Deposited On:27 Sep 2023 11:50
Last Modified:27 Sep 2023 11:51
Document Language:English
Status:Published
Refereed:Peer-reviewed and accepted

Repository Staff Only: item control page

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics