Distribution of assimilated carbon in the system Phragmites australis -waterlogged peat soil after carbon-14 pulse labelling

Abstract

Short-term (3–6 days) and long-term (27 days) laboratory experiments were carried out to determine the distribution of assimilated C in the system Phragmites australis (common reed)-waterlogged fen soil after 14C pulse labelling. The investigated system of fen plants and anaerobic organic soil showed different patterns of assimilated 14C distribution when compared to systems with cultivated plants and aerobic mineral soil. Between 90% and 95% of the 14C in the system was found in the reed plants. A maximum of 2% of the assimilated plant 14C was released from the fen soil as CO2 and about 5–9% remained in the soil. The 14C remaining in the waterlogged fen soil of the reed plant had the same amount as that of a cultivated plant in mineral soil, despite lower 14C-release (i.e. rhizodeposition and root respiration) from reed roots. Assuming that root respiration of fen plants is low, this indicates that microbial C turnover in waterlogged fen soil is much slower than in mineral soil. The estimated quantity of the assimilated C remaining in the soil was of an ecologically relevant order of magnitude.