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Carbon loss from Br...
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Kätterer, ThomasSwedish University of Agricultural Sciences,Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet,Institutionen för markvetenskap,Department of Soil Sciences
(author)
Carbon loss from Brachystegia spiciformis leaf litter in the sandy soils of southern Mozambique
- Article/chapterEnglish2009
Publisher, publication year, extent ...
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2008-08-09
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Springer Science and Business Media LLC,2009
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Springer Verlag (Germany),2024
Numbers
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LIBRIS-ID:oai:slubar.slu.se:25311
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https://res.slu.se/id/publ/25311URI
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https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-008-9194-yDOI
Supplementary language notes
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Language:English
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Summary in:English
Part of subdatabase
Classification
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Subject category:ref swepub-contenttype
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Subject category:art swepub-publicationtype
Notes
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Leaves of Brachystegia spiciformis represent a substantial fraction of the total aboveground litter in bush fallow fields with sandy soils in southern Mozambique, where annual rainfall exceeds 600 mm. This species is one of the most important in the miombo woodland that is the natural vegetation of the region. Proper knowledge of the decomposition of its litter is therefore crucial for understanding processes responsible for natural build-up of fertility in agricultural soils abandoned to bush fallow during shifting cultivation. This study investigated the effects of soil water content and soil temperature on loss of organic carbon (C) from decomposing leaves in litterbags with 1 mm mesh size. The litterbags were buried 50 mm deep in recently abandoned agricultural fields cleared of any vegetation (Bare) and in more than 15-year-old bush fallow fields (Fallow) of sites covering a climatic transect with annual rainfall from <400 mm to >1,000 mm. Two patterns of C loss were observed, one in coastal and wetter agroecosystems (rainfall >600 mm) and the other in inland and drier agroecosystems (rainfall <600 mm). In the wetter agroecosystems C loss was faster, whereas in drier agroecosystems it was more sensitive to rainfall pulses. Similarly, C loss was faster in fallow fields than in bare fields. During summer, bare fields reached soil temperatures higher than the estimated upper boundary favourable for C loss from decomposing leaf litter at all sites. A simple dynamic decomposition model describing the C fraction remaining in the litterbags was developed. Coefficients of determination (R 2) for the individual experimental units varied between 0.79 and 0.97. The general model for all sites and fields improved explanation of total variation from 81% to 86% when measured soil temperature and soil water content were used as modifiers of decomposition rate, compared with the standard negative exponential model. Root-mean-square error and systematic bias were 9.7% and 0.5% of initial C, respectively. Decomposition was more strongly affected by soil water content than by soil temperature and explained 75% of total variation. Thus, rainfall is the main driver of C loss from leaf litter in these agroecosystems.
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Added entries (persons, corporate bodies, meetings, titles ...)
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Ledin, StigSwedish University of Agricultural Sciences,Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet,Institutionen för markvetenskap,Department of Soil Sciences(Swepub:slu)46639
(author)
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Sveriges lantbruksuniversitetInstitutionen för markvetenskap
(creator_code:org_t)
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Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
Related titles
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In:Nutrient cycling in agroecosystems: Springer Science and Business Media LLC83, s. 13-261385-13141573-0867
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