Land use effects on carbon quality and soil biological properties in Eutric Cambisol |
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Authors: | Lubica Pospí?ilová Pavel Formanek Jiri Kucerik Tibor Liptaj Tomas Losak Anna Martensson |
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Institution: | 1. Mendel University in Brno, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Agrochemistry, Soil Science, Microbiology and Plant Nutrition , Brno, Czech Republic lposp@mendelu.cz;3. Mendel University in Brno, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Department of Geology and Soil Science , Brno, Czech Republic;4. Brno University of Technology, Faculty of Chemistry, Institute of Materials Chemistry , Brno, Czech Republic;5. Slovak Technical University, Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology, Institute of Analytical Chemistry, Department of NMR Spectroscopy and Mass Spectroscopy , Bratislava, Slovak Republic;6. Mendel University in Brno, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Agrochemistry, Soil Science, Microbiology and Plant Nutrition , Brno, Czech Republic;7. Swedish University of Agricultural Science, Department of Soil and Environment , Uppsala, Sweden |
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Abstract: | Abstract The choice of prospective type of farming requires knowledge about the specific relationships that exist between farm management practices and base environmental conditions. Nowadays the protection of soil organic carbon is one of the main tasks, because organic carbon in addition to soil fertility can act in elimination of soil contamination and carbon sequestration. Field experiments were focused on the effect of intensive farming without organic inputs versus grassland on organic carbon content. Organic carbon content (Cox) and humic substance fractions (C-humic acids and fulvic acid fractions), hot water extractable carbon and selected microbial characteristics in Eutric Cambisol were monitored during the period 1999–2010. A priming effect of soil cultivation was detected immediately after tillage. Arable soil with ‘intensive’ crop sequences (exclusively cash crops, cereals, oil plants) and with an optimal level of chemical inputs (mineral fertilizers, pesticides), but without organic farmyard manure had lower content of all carbon forms compared with grassland. 13C NMR spectroscopy and thermal analysis (TGA) were applied to characterize humic acid (HA) structure and stability. More carbon, less oxygen and more aromatic compounds were detected in grassland HA. Slight differences were found in HA thermo-oxidative stability and degradability, which was probably caused by changes in elemental composition and structure. Even the land use had no significant effect on basic microbiological characteristics (basal respiration, microbial biomass and qCO2); the physiology of the microbial community of grassland was altered by a higher ability to utilize L- and D-glutamic acid. The L/D ratio of glutamic acid mineralization indicated no occurrence of stress in soil for both types of farming. It has been demonstrated that although losses of carbon as a result of land-use conversions are generally more rapid, gains of carbon in grassland followed by changes in management practices can also occur. |
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Keywords: | Humic substances microbiological parameters 13C NMR spectroscopy thermogravimetry |
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