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ARS Home » Plains Area » Temple, Texas » Grassland Soil and Water Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #224776
Title: Interaction of soil type and carbon dioxide concentration in grassland soil pore water nitrogen concentrations

Author
item KELLY, ALEXIA - DUKE UNIVERSITY
item Fay, Philip
item Jin, Virginia
item Polley, Herbert
item JACKSON, ROBERT - DUKE UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: Ecological Society of America Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/21/2008
Publication Date: 9/7/2008
Citation: Kelly, A., Fay, P.A., Jin, V.L., Polley, H.W., Jackson, R.B. 2008. Interaction of soil type and carbon dioxide concentration in grassland soil pore water nitrogen concentrations. In: Proceedings of the Ecological Society of America, August 3-8, 2008, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 2008 CDROM.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Increasing CO2 concentrations have been shown to limit soil nitrogen availability in terrestrial ecosystems, thereby limiting plant growth. Because changes in nitrogen availability can affect the composition of available nitrogen forms, we are interested in how changes in CO2 concentrations could affect nitrogen concentrations in soil pore water. In this experiment we measure nitrate, ammonium and dissolved organic nitrogen concentrations in grassland plots that have been exposed to a gradient of CO2 concentrations, ranging from 250 ppm to 500 ppm. Additionally, three soil types from three soil series were used in these experiment in order to determine how soil difference may impact ecosystem responses to changing CO2 concentrations. The soils in this experiment consist of the following three series: Austin (a mollisol), Houston (vertisol), and Bastrop (alfisol). Soil pore water samples were taken from suction lysimeters installed to a depth of 15 cm within all three soil types and across the CO2 gradient.