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Title: TEMPORAL VARIATION IN SOIL AIR CARBON DIOXIDE AND FLUXES IN SOIL UNDER GRASSLAND AND CULTIVATION

Author
item SOTOMAYOR, D - UNIVERSITY OF PUERTO RICO
item RICE, C - KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY
item AJWA, HUSEIN

Submitted to: Agronomy Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/31/1997
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The decomposition of organic materials is primarily mediated by micro-organisms and results in production of carbon dioxide in soils. There is a need for better understanding of processes affecting soil respiration as a result of changing land use. Soil air carbon dioxide and fluxes, and influencing soil ecological parameters were examined in a native prairie grassland and adjacent cultivated soil. The grassland site had higher microbial activities, mineralizable carbon pools, microbial biomass, and bacterial numbers which resulted in enhanced soil air carbon dioxide and flux to the atmosphere. The differences were more dramatic in surface horizons with mixed trends in the subsurface (<3 m). Atmospheric carbon dioxide flux was affected primarliey by soil air carbon dioxide concentrations which were influenced in the surface horizons by changes in soil temperature and moisture.