Input related microbial carbon dynamic of soil organic matter in particle size fractions

This paper investigated the flow of carbon into different groups of soil microorganisms isolated from different particle size fractions. Two agricultural sites of contrasting organic matter input were compared. Both soils had been submitted to vegetation change from C3 (Rye/Wheat) to C4 (Maize) plants, 25 and 45 years ago. Soil carbon was separated into one fast-degrading particulate organic matter fraction (POM) and one slow-degrading organo-mineral fraction (OMF). The structure of the soil microbial community were investigated using phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA), and turnover of single PLFAs was calculated from the changes in their ¹³C content. Soil enzyme activities involved in the degradation of carbohydrates was determined using fluorogenic MUF (methyl-umbelliferryl phosphate) substrates.We found that fresh organic matter input drives soil organic matter dynamic. Higher annual input of fresh organic matter resulted in a higher amount of fungal biomass in the POM-fraction and shorter mean residence times. Fungal activity therefore seems essential for the decomposition and incorporation of organic matter input into the soil. As a consequence, limited litter input changed especially the fungal community favoring arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Altogether, supply and availability of fresh plant carbon changed the distribution of microbial biomass, the microbial community structure and enzyme activities and resulted in different priming of soil organic matter.Most interestingly we found that only at low input the OMF fraction had significantly higher calculated MRT for Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria suggesting high recycling of soil carbon or the use of other carbon sources. But on average all microbial groups had nearly similar carbon uptake rates in all fractions and both soils, which contrasted the turnover times of bulk carbon. Hereby the microbial carbon turnover was always faster than the soil organic carbon turnover and higher carbon input reduced the carbon storage efficiency from 51% in the low input to 20%. These findings suggest that microbial community preferentially assimilated fresh carbon sources but also used recycled existing soil carbon. However, the priming rate was drastically reduced under carbon limitation. In consequence at high carbon availability more carbon was respired to activate the existing soil carbon (priming) whereas at low carbon availability new soil carbon was formed at higher efficiencies.     

应用近红外光谱法测定土壤的有机质和pH值

为了满足精细农业对土壤快速实时测试的需要,对未经过粉碎、过筛等处理的土壤,采集了4000～12500 cm-1范围的近红外光谱。研究了土壤的光谱特性,并采用偏最小二乘回归分析方法建立了一阶微分光谱的光谱吸光度与有机质含量和pH值之间的定量分析模型。试验分析表明：有机质的预测相关系数为0.818,预测标准偏差SEP为0.069,预测均方根误差为RMSEP为0.085;pH值的预测相关系数为0.834,SEP为0.095,RMSEP为0.114。表明采用近红外光谱仪经一阶微分处理可以很好地预测经过简单处理的土样中的有机质含量和pH值, 该结论为今后田间快速土壤特性光谱测量奠定了基础。     

The contribution of soil organic matter fractions to carbon and nitrogen mineralization and microbial community size and structure

The aims of this study were to: (i) assess the impact of hay and fertilizer application on organic matter (OM) fractions (dissolved organic matter (DOM), light fraction organic matter (LFOM, <1.0 g cm⁻³), heavy fraction OM (HFOM, <1.7 g cm⁻³)), carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling processes and microbial community size and structure, and (ii) quantify the role of OM fractions to C and N cycling. Soil was collected in 2001 from a field experiment to which grass hay (1996) and/or fertilizer (1995 and 1999) had previously been applied. DOM-C (P<0.05) and DOM-N (P=0.07) were significantly higher in control and fertilized soil than hay and hay+fertilized soil. LFOM and HFOM C and N contents and C/N ratios were significantly (P<0.05) higher in hay+fertilized and hay amended soil than in control and fertilized soil. Potentially mineralizable-N (PMN), microbial biomass-C (MB-C), microbial biomass-N (MB-N) and microbial respiration (CO₂) were not affected by fertilizer and/or hay application. Gross N mineralization (Gross Min) and gross nitrification (Gross Nit) rates were significantly (P<0.05) higher in fertilized, hay, hay+fertilized soil than control soil. However, there was no significant difference between treatments in gross N immobilization rates. Results reported here highlight the importance of a labile fraction of the DOM pool to N and C cycling as its removal significantly (P<0.05) reduced PMN, MB-N, Gross Min and Gross Nit compared with whole soil in most or all treatments. In soil where DOM+LFOM were removed PMN was significantly (P<0.05) lower, but MB-C, Gross Min and Gross Nit was significantly (P<0.05) higher than in DOM removed soil. This suggests that LFOM plays an important role as a sink for mineral-N. Total soil phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) concentration was significantly (P<0.05) higher in hay amended than control, fertilized and hay+fertilized soil. Principal components analysis was able to clearly discriminate between control, fertilized, hay+fertilized and hay amended soil. Soil amended with hay or fertilizer had a microbial community structure which differed from that of the control or hay+fertilized soils. Redundancy analysis with Monte Carlo permutation tests revealed that PLFA profiles were strongly correlated to differences in Gross Min, Gross Nit, MB-N, MB-C, MB-C/N ratio, total soil C and total soil C/N ratio. The results of this research suggest that changes in microbial structure are related to aspects of soil C and N pools and cycling.     

Buffer capacity and Cu affinity of soil particulate organic matter (POM) size fractions

Particulate organic matter fractions (POM), defined as sand‐sized organic separates in soils, are known to be labile organic components with a rapid turnover. Recently, POM fractions were identified to be metal‐enriched in both metal‐contaminated and uncontaminated soils. However, mechanisms for such metal‐enrichment are poorly understood, because of the paucity of information on the chemical properties of POM. The aim of this study was to quantify the reactivity of POM towards Cu and to show a POM‐size effect on this reactivity. POM was isolated from soils with different organic amendment managements: straw (S), conifer compost (CC), and non‐amended (NA). Two POM size fractions were isolated by density‐fractionation in water: 50–200 μm and 200–2000 μm. These fractions were studied for their metal contents, acid‐base properties and affinity toward Cu. The buffer capacity and Cu affinity were modeled by FITEQL 4.0 software and compared between the two POM size fractions. Each POM size fraction provided a buffer capacity due to the presence of reactive sites, the greatest being for the 50–200 μm POM fractions. A signature of organic inputs as seen by the buffer capacities was observed for the 50–200 μm but not for the 200–2000 μm POM fractions. But Cu affinity was comparable between the coarse and fine POM fractions and no significant differences were found between NA, S and CC samples. We checked the hypothesis that decreasing POM size due to degradation processes generates more reactive surface sites. Results confirmed that soil POM plays a key role as a metal sink, due to its chemical properties.     

Determining the distributions of soil carbon and nitrogen in particle size fractions using near-infrared reflectance spectrum of bulk soil samples

This study aimed at assessing the potential of near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) for determining the distribution of soil organic matter (SOM) in particle size fractions, which has rarely been attempted. This was done on sandy soils from Burkina Faso (three sites) and Congo-Brazzaville (one site). Over the total sample set, NIRS accurately predicted carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) concentrations (g kg^?1 fraction) in the fraction <20 μm. When considering Burkina Faso only, predictions were improved in general; those of C and N amounts (g kg^?1 soil) became accurate for the fraction <20 μm but not for the coarser fractions, probably due to heterogeneous SOM repartition. However, most SOM being <20 μm in general, NIRS could be considered promising for determining SOM size distribution.     

Adsorption of Pseudomonas putida on soil particle size fractions: effects of solution chemistry and organic matter

Purpose  

Attachment of bacteria on soil particles is ubiquitous and governs the transformation of nutrients and degradation of pollutants in soil and associated environments. The nature on the binding of bacteria by soil particles has remained unclear. The objectives of the present study were to investigate the adsorption of Pseudomonas putida on particle size fractions from an Ultisol as influenced by solution chemistry and organic matter.     

不同耕作方式对中国东北黑土有机碳的短期影响

A tillage experiment, consisting of moldboard plow （MP）, ridge tillage （RT）, and no-tillage （NT）, was performed in a randomized complete block design with four replicates to study the effect of 3-year tillage management on SOC content and its distribution in surface layer （30 cm） of a clay loam soil in northeast China. NT did not lead to significant increase of SOC in topsoil （0-5 cm） compared with MP and RT; however, the SOC content in NT soil was remarkably reduced at a depth of 5-20 cm. Accordingly, short-term （3-year） NT management tended to stratify SOC concentration, but not necessarily increase its storage in the plow layer for the soil.     

Straw incorporation and soil organic matter in macro-aggregates and particle size separates

Two field experiments in which straw has been removed or incorporated for 17 yr (loamy sand) and 10 yr (sandy clay loam) were sampled to examine the effect of straw on the C and N contents in whole soil samples, macro-aggregate fractions and primary particle-size separates. The particle size composition of the aggregate fractions was determined. Aggregates were isolated by dry sieving. Straw incorporation increased the number of 1–20 mm aggregates in the loamy sand but no effect was noted in the sandy clay loam. Straw had no effect on the particle size composition of the various aggregate fractions. After correction for loose sand that accumulated in the aggregate fractions during dry sieving, macro-aggregates appeared to be enriched in clay and silt compared with whole soil samples. Because of the possible detachment of sand particles from the exterior surface of aggregates during sieving operations, it was inferred that the particle size composition of macro-aggregates is similar to that of the bulk soil. The organic matter contents of the aggregate fractions were closely correlated with their clay + silt contents. Differences in the organic matter content of clay isolated from whole soil samples and aggregate fractions were generally small. This was also true for the silt-size separates. In both soils, straw incorporation increased the organic matter content of nearly all clay and silt separates; for silt this was generally twice that observed for clay. The amounts of soil C, derived from straw, left in the loamy sand and sandy clay loam at the time of sampling were 4.4 and 4.5 t ha^?1, corresponding to 12 and 21% of the straw C added. The C/N ratios of the straw-derived soil organic matter were 11 and 12 for the loamy sand and sandy clay loam, respectively.     

长期定位施肥对潮土有机氮组分和有机碳的影响

利用河南封丘潮土的13年长期施肥试验,采用Bremner法研究了潮土耕层有机氮组成的变化,分析了长期施肥对土壤有机氮组份和有机碳含量的影响。与不施肥和单施化肥相比,施有机肥或有机肥与化肥配施显著提高了土壤全氮、酸解有机氮、酸解铵态氮、氨基酸态氮、非酸解有机氮和有机碳的含量。有机氮主要由酸解铵态氮和氨基酸态氮组成,其次为酸解未知态氮和非酸解有机氮,氨基糖态氮含量最小。施有机肥尤其利于氨基酸态氮和非酸解有机氮的形成。施肥处理的酸解有机氮占全氮的比例减小,主要是由氨基酸态氮、酸解铵态氮占全氮的比例减小所致。与1989年试验开始时的土壤初始值相比,施有机肥能提高土壤全氮含量和有机质含量。在供应等氮磷钾的情况下,有机无机配施增加了土壤供氮能力、有机质含量和作物产量,是维持土壤肥力和保护环境最优的施肥方式。     

Decomposability of organic matter in particle size fractions from field soils with straw incorporation

Soils from two field experiments on straw disposal were fractionated according to particle size using ultrasonic dispersion and gravity-sedimentation in water. Samples of whole soils, clay. silt and sand-size fractions were held for 49 days at 20°C and the CO₂ evolution measured on 14 dates by gas chromatography.Recovery of soil solids. C and N was 99, 98 and 93%, respectively. Most of the soil C and N was in the clay (<2μm). (loamy sand, 50% C and 56% N; sandy loam. 65% C and 68% N), the silt (2–20 μm) having smaller proportions (loamy sand, 41% C and 38% N; sandy loam. 29% C and 27% N). The sand fraction (20–6000 μm) accounted for 4–7% of the organic matter, and 1–2% of the C was water soluble. Straw incorporation generally increased the C and N content of whole soils and size fractions.The decomposition rate constants were higher for the sandy loam than for the loamy sand soil. For both soils, the decomposability of the organic matter decreased in the order: sand > clay ⩾ whole soil > silt. Straw incorporation increased the decomposition rate of whole soil and sand organic matter. whereas the effect of straw on clay and silt respiration was small.Between 58 and 73% of the respiration was from clay, 21–25% from silt and 6–19% from the sand size fraction.     

Relation between carbon and nitrogen turnover in soil organic fractions of microbial origin

Labelled ¹⁴C-acetate and ¹⁵N-(NH₄)₂SO₄ were added to a clay soil in the laboratory to follow transformations of microbial C and N, A fungal population developed initially, reaching a maximum by day 5, then rapidly declined and was replaced by a population dominated by bacteria and actinomycetes. Soil samples containing doubly-labelled microorganisms and their metabolites were extracted by Na₄P₂O₇, and the extracted material further separated with phenol.The highly labelled acid-soluble (fulvic acid) fraction of the Na₄P₂O₇ extract contained extracellular metabolites of low molecular weight which were rapidly attacked and converted to new microbial biomass, metabolites, mineral N or CO₂. Na₄P₂O₇ also removed an acid-insoluble (humic acid) fraction of which up to 70 per cent of the labelled C and N could be removed by phenol. Attack of these recently synthesized extracellular materials was indicated by a rapid decline of Na₄P₂O₇ extractable C and N during the growth of bacteria and actinomycetes.Following Na₄P₂O₇ extraction, the residue was sonicated and peptized in water and the components of the microbial biomass were partitioned into sedimentation fractions by centrifugation. The components concentrated in the > 0.2 μm fraction, which were hypothesized as being cell wall components, were more resistant to attack than materials in the < 0.04 μm fraction. The materials in the latter fraction were thought to originate from cytoplasmic constituents. The labelled materials in the < 0.04 μm sized fraction, which accumulated as the fungal population developed, were utilized less rapidly by the developing bacterial population.Decomposition of the microbial population resulted in transfer of C and N through various sediment fractions. The organic fraction (considered to be cytoplasmic material and adsorbed extracellular metabolites) which became labelled as the bacterial population developed, was utilized less rapidly by the developing bacterial population than components removable by Na₄P₂O₇. Evolution of ¹⁴CO₂, production of microbial material and immobilization of N closely paralleled the incorporation and release of these elements from the fractions. The similarity of the behavior patterns of these elements suggested they were intimately associated within the soil microbial system studied. This demonstrated that N transformations were highly dependent on C transformations.     

Bacterial community structure in soil microaggregates and on particulate organic matter fractions located outside or inside soil macroaggregates

Soil aggregates and particulate organic matter (POM) are thought to represent distinct soil microhabitats for microbial communities. This study investigated whether organo-mineral (0–20, 20–50 and 50–200 μm) and POM (two sizes: >200 and <200 μm) soil fractions represent distinct microbial habitats. Microbial habitats were characterised by the amount and quality of organic matter, the genetic structure of the bacterial community, and their location outside or inside macroaggregates (>200 μm). The denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) profiles revealed that bacterial communities structure of organo-mineral soil fractions were significantly different in comparison to the unfractionated soil. Conversely, there were little differences in C concentrations, C:N ratios and no differences in DGGE profiles between organo-mineral fractions. Bacterial communities between soil fractions located inside or outside macroaggregates were not significantly different. However, the bacterial communities on POM fractions were significantly different in comparison to organo-mineral soil fractions and unfractionated soil, and also between the 2 sizes of POM. Thus in the studied soil, only POM fractions represented distinct microhabitats for bacterial community, which likely vary with the state of decomposition of the POM.     

Cokriging particle size fractions of the soil

It is often necessary to predict the distribution of mineral particles in soil between size fractions, given observations at sample sites. Because the contents in each fraction necessarily sum to 100%, these values constitute a composition, which we may assume is drawn from a random compositional variate. Elements of a D‐component composition are subject to non‐stochastic constraints; they are constrained to lie on a D– 1 dimensional simplex. This means we cannot treat them as realizations of unbounded random variables such as the multivariate Gaussian. For this reason, there are theoretical reasons not to use ordinary cokriging (or ordinary kriging) to map particle size distributions. Despite this, the compositional constraints on data on particle size fractions are not always accounted for by soil scientists. The additive log‐ratio (alr) transform can be used to transform data from a compositional variate into a form that can be treated as a realization of an unbounded random variable. Until now, while soil scientists have made use of the alr transform for the spatial prediction of particle size, there has been concern that the simple back‐transform of the optimal estimate of the alr‐transformed variables does not yield the optimal estimate of the composition. A numerical approximation to the conditional expectation of the composition has been proposed, but we are not aware of examples of its application and it has not been used in soil science. In this paper, we report two case studies in which we predicted clay, silt and sand contents of the soil at test sites by ordinary cokriging of the alr‐transformed data followed by both the direct (biased) back‐transform of the estimates and the unbiased back‐transform. We also computed estimates by ordinary cokriging of the untransformed data (which ignores the compositional constraints on the variables) for comparison. In one of our case studies, the benefit of using the alr transform was apparent, although there was no consistent advantage in using the unbiased back‐transform. In the other case study, there was no consistent advantage in using the alr transform, although the bias of the simple back‐transform was apparent. The differences between these case studies could be explained with respect to the distribution on the simplex of the particle size fractions at the two sites.     

Chemical stabilization of organic carbon pools in particle size fractions in no-till and meadow soils

The knowledge about the relevance of physical and chemical fractionation methods to soil organic carbon (SOC) stabilization mechanisms is fragmentary but needed to manage the SOC pool. Therefore, our objective was to compare the C contents of the particle size fractions coarse and fine sand, silt, and clay of the two uppermost horizons of a soil under three different management systems (meadow; no-till corn, NT; no-till corn with manure, NTm). The mineral composition was dominated by silt (48–60%). However, coarse sand and clay showed the highest enrichment of C compared to the bulk soil. In spite of an enrichment factor below 1, the high proportion of silt made this fraction the main C store. In the upper 30 cm, this fraction amounted to 27.1 Mg C ha⁻¹ in NTm and progressively less in NT (15.5 Mg C ha⁻¹), and meadow (14.9 Mg C ha⁻¹), representing 44%, 39%, and 39% of the total SOC pool, respectively. The C in the isolated particle size fractions was further investigated by an oxidizing treatment with Na₂S₂O₈ and a treatment with HF to solubilize the mineral phases. The pools of oxidizable C were comparable among particle size fractions and pedons, as indicated by Na₂S₂O₈ treatment. The pools of C preferentially associated with soil minerals were also comparable among pedons, as indicated by HF treatment. However, NTm stored the largest pool (12.6 Mg ha⁻¹) of mineral-associated C in 0–30 cm depth. The silt-associated and mineral-bound SOC pool in NTm was greater compared to NT due to increased organic matter (OM) input. Thus, the silt particle size fraction at the North Appalachian Experimental Watershed (NAEW) has the potential for SOC sequestration by stabilizing OM inputs. Mineralogical and molecular level analyses on a larger set of fractions obtained from entire rooted soil profiles are required, however, to compare the SOC sequestration capacity of the land uses.     

The oxidation of soil organic matter by KBrO for particle size determination

Abstract

The oxidation of soil humus by alkaline KBrO solution at boiling temperature has been shown to be successful even with samples as carbonaceous underwater soils. With these soils treatment with H₂O₂ produces a cohesive foam which prevents further oxidation.     

长期施用有机肥对稻麦轮作体系土壤有机碳氮组分的影响

【目的】 以湖北武汉地区长期稻麦轮作制度下施肥试验地作为研究对象,研究了长期不同施肥处理对耕层土壤有机碳、全氮及活性碳氮组分的影响,为优化稻麦轮作体系下施肥措施,实现土壤固碳减排,培肥土壤提供理论依据。 【方法】 长期施肥试验开始于1981年,试验处理包括不施肥 (CK)、施化学氮肥 (N)、施化学氮磷肥 (NP)、施化学氮磷钾肥 (NPK)、单施有机肥 (M) 及有机无机肥配施处理 (NPKM)。收集2017年小麦收获后耕层 (0—20 cm) 土壤,测定各小区土壤中的有机碳 (SOC)、全氮 (TN)、微生物量碳氮 (MBC、MBN)、水溶性碳 (DOC)、热水溶性有机碳 (HWSC)、颗粒有机碳氮 (POC和PON)、轻组有机碳氮 (LFOC和LFON) 及氯化钾浸提氮 (KEN,即水溶性无机氮) 的含量并分析各指标间的关系。 【结果】 1) 除KEN外,长期施用有机肥显著增加耕层土壤的各碳氮组分含量,特别是有机无机肥配施处理。2) 各活性有机碳组分占SOC的百分比由高到低排序为POC > LFOC > HWSC > MBC > DOC,各氮组分占TN的百分比由高到低排序为PON > LFON > MBN > KEN,其中POC占SOC的24.04%～37.64%,PON占TN的12.09%～20.24%,且有机肥处理下POC/SOC、PON/TN显著高于其余处理。3) 通过对土壤有机碳及各活性有机碳的对施肥的敏感性分析可得,各活性碳敏感性指数均显著高于SOC,且DOC的敏感性最高。4) 通过各组分间相关性分析可知,除KEN外,各碳、氮组分间显著正相关,其中DOC与SOC、PON与TN关系更为紧密,表明DOC及PON可较好地反应出SOC、TN的变化情况。 【结论】 在湖北稻麦轮作地区,长期有机无机肥配施处理显著增加了土壤碳库及氮库,促进了土壤碳、氮的积累,尤其是颗粒有机碳和有机氮 (POC和PON)。水溶性碳 (DOC) 对施肥反应最为敏感,可作为指示该地区有机物早期变化的指示物。      

滩涂土壤有机质含量的反射光谱估算

Rapid determination of soil organic matter (SOM) using regression models based on soil reflectance spectral data serves an important function in precision agriculture. “deviation of arch”(DOA)-based regression and partial least squares regression (PLSR) are two popular modeling approaches to predict SOM. However, few studies have explored the accuracy of the DOA-based regression and PLSR models. Therefore, the DOA-based regression and PLSR were applied to the visible near-infrared (VNIR) spectra to estimate SOM content in the case of various dataset divisions. A two-fold cross-validation scheme was adopted and repeated 10 000 times for rigorous evaluation of the DOA-based models in comparison with the widely used PLSR model. Soil samples were collected for SOM analysis in the coastal area of northern Jiangsu Province, China. The results indicated that both modelling methods provided reasonable estimates of SOM, with PLSR outperforming DOA-based regression in general. However, the performance of PLSR for the validation dataset decreased more noticeably. Among the four DOA-based models, the linear model of the DOA provided the best estimation of SOM and a cutoff of SOM content (19.76 g kg^-1), and the performance for calibration and validation datasets was consistent. As the SOM content exceeded 19.76 g kg^-1, SOM became more effective in masking the spectral features of other soil properties to a certain extent. This work confirmed that reflectance spectroscopy combined with PLSR could serve as a non-destructive and cost-efficient way for rapid determination of SOM when hyperspectral data were available. The DOA-based model, which requires only 3 bands in the visible spectra, also provided SOM estimation with acceptable accuracy.     

Calibration model of microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen concentrations in soils using ultraviolet absorbance and soil organic matter

There is a need for a rapid, simple and reliable method of determining soil microbial biomass (SMB) for all soils because traditional methods are laborious. Earlier studies have reported that SMB‐C and ‐N concentrations in grassland and arable soils can be estimated by measurement of UV absorbance in soil extracts. However, these previous studies focused on soils with small soil organic matter (SOM) contents, and there was no consideration of SOM content as a covariate to improve the estimation. In this study, using tropical and temperate forest soils with a wide range of total C (5–204 mg C g^?1 soil) and N (1–12 mg N g^?1 soil) contents and pH values (4.1–5.9), it was found that increase in UV absorbance of soil extracts at 280 nm (UV₂₈₀) after fumigation could account for 92–96% of the variance in estimates of the SMB‐C and ‐N concentrations measured by chloroform fumigation and extraction (P < 0.001). The data were combined with those of earlier workers to calibrate UV‐based regression models for all the soils, by taking into account their varying SOM content. The validation analysis of the calibration models indicated that the SMB‐C and ‐N concentrations in the 0–5 cm forest soils simulated by using the increase in UV₂₈₀ and SOM could account for 86–93% of the variance in concentrations determined by chloroform fumigation and extraction (P < 0.001). The slope values of linear regression equations between measured and simulated values were 0.94 ± 0.03 and 0.94 ± 0.04, respectively, for the SMB‐C and ‐N. However, simulation using the regression equations obtained by using only the data for forest profile soils gave less good agreement with measured values. Hence, the calibration models obtained by using the increase in UV₂₈₀ and SOM can give a rapid, simple and reliable method of determining SMB for all soils.     

Characterizing organic matter of soil aggregate coatings and biopores by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

In some soils, aggregate coatings and walls of biopores differ in the content of clay and organic carbon from that of the aggregate interiors or the soil matrix. The composition of the organic matter on aggregates and on the surfaces of biopores is largely unknown. We have compared the composition of organic matter between inner and outer parts of aggregates and between biopore walls and the soil matrix in a loamy arable soil and a sandy forest one. Hot‐water‐ and sodium‐pyrophosphate‐extractable organic matter was analysed by Fourier transform infrared (FT‐IR) spectroscopy. For the sandy forest soil, the FT‐IR spectra showed that organic matter from the walls of root channels contains fewer functional groups with absorption bands at 1740–1710 cm^?1 and 1640–1600 cm^?1 than that from burrow fillings. For the arable soil, the content of these functional groups in hot‐water‐soluble organic matter from the coatings is less than in that from the interiors in the topsoil, and the reverse is so in the subsoil, probably because water‐soluble organic matter containing these functional groups has moved from topsoil to subsoil. The results indicate that root channels in the forest soil have more reactive zones in an otherwise relatively inert sandy matrix, whereas aggregate coatings in the arable subsoil have a greater cation exchange capacity and a greater sorption potential for hydrophobic substances than the aggregate interiors.