ARS | Publication request: COMPARING SHORT-TERM C METABOLISM IN SOILS FROM FOUR DIFFERENT ECOSYSTEMS

Submitted to: National Energy Technology Lab C Sequestration Symposium
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: March 10, 2003
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: The rate at which a soil metabolizes new carbon may suggest its potential to sequester C. Soils from different ecosystems have different microorganisms and thus, may mineralize C differently. The soils were from four ecosystems: tallgrass prairie, cropland, shrub-steppe, and Douglas fir forest. We monitored transformation of a simple 14C-labeled substrate (glucose) over 12 weeks. Specific activities of evolved CO2 were used to compare soils. The prairie soil showed no evidence of preferential metabolism of glucose-C, nor did it appear that endogenous C was particularly metabolized. Respiration patterns in the other three soils indicate that preferential metabolism did occur. This indicates that each ecosystem may have a unique C mineralization pattern which could be interrupted or altered to induce a greater C sequestration potential.