Drying/rewetting cycles mobilize old C from deep soils from a California annual 
grassland

Schimel, J. P.; Wetterstedt, J. A. M.; Holden, P. A.; Trumbore, Susan E.

doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2011.01.008

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Drying/rewetting cycles mobilize old C from deep soils from a California annual grassland

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Schimel, J. P., Wetterstedt, J. A. M., Holden, P. A., & Trumbore, S. E. (2011). Drying/rewetting cycles mobilize old C from deep soils from a California annual grassland. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 43(5), 1101-1103. doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2011.01.008.

Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-001M-0000-0027-D0F9-6

Abstract

We measured the C-14 and C-13 signatures of CO2 respired from surface and deep soils released through multiple dry/rewetting cycles in laboratory incubations. The C respired from surface soils included components fixed before and after the 1960s. However, that respired from deep soils was derived from organic matter with a mean turnover time estimated in the range of 650-850 years. This reinforces previous research suggesting that a substantial amount of deep soil C is chemically labile but physically inaccessible to microorganisms, but also suggests that substantial amounts of that C may not be so strongly bound to minerals as to be effectively inert, raising the question of why it hasn't already been metabolized. It also demonstrates the contribution of C fixed before the 1960s to CO2 metabolized in the surface soils at this site. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.