Abstract
Modelling soil organic matter dynamics requires reproducible and accurate data from several methods that follow such evolution based on changes in soil organic matter properties. The objective of this study is to investigate changes in the chemical, thermal and biological properties of soil organic matter after afforestation using emerging methods such as thermal analysis, isothermal calorimetry, and </span><sup>13</sup><span>C CPMAS NMR. These methods were applied to a chronosequence of soils where large losses of carbon have occurred in the 29 years since afforestation. Results show that over this period the soil organic matter becomes more aromatic, resulting in increased thermal stability and decreased microbial activity. Over longer time frames, between 29 and 40 years after afforestation, soil organic matter increased, mainly in the aliphatic and carbohydrate fractions with enhanced thermal stability and consequent metabolic changes from microbial adaptation to the new organic matter.
Highlights
Land use change is one of the main practices contributing to rapid losses of soil carbon, C in the form of CO2
Measuring soil organic matter (SOM) dynamics requires simple, accurate and reproducible methods that can be used with large numbers of samples to obtain data on both the chemical structure and biological activity of organic matter associated with soil samples
Afforestation causes changes in SOM properties that determine the rate of C mineralization
Summary
Land use change is one of the main practices contributing to rapid losses of soil carbon, C in the form of CO2. Identification of changes in soil organic matter (SOM) over time after a land use change is of great interest for understanding SOM stability and turnover. Cross Polarization-Magic Angle Spinning (13C-CPMAS) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) provides data on the chemical structure of SOM. It is a type of NMR spectroscopy using a solid sample that is spinning very fast at the magic angle (54.74 degrees with respect to the direction of the magnetic field). Measuring SOM dynamics requires simple, accurate and reproducible methods that can be used with large numbers of samples to obtain data on both the chemical structure and biological activity of organic matter associated with soil samples. Thermal analysis may be useful for inferring shifts in SOM qualities that affect
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