Dynamics of Carbon Sequestered in Concentric Layers of Soil Macroaggregates

Abstract

Methods used to study carbon sequestration by soil aggregates have often excluded the concentric spatial variability and other dynamic processes that contribute to resource accessibility and solute transport within aggregates. We investigated the spatial gradients of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) from the exterior to interior layers within macroaggregates, <TEX>$6.3\sim9.5$</TEX> mm, sampled from conventional tillage (CT) and no tillage (NT) sites of a Hoytville silt clay loam. Spatial gradients in C accumulation within macroaggregates were related to the differences in C dynamics by determining the sizes and the turnover rates of fast C and slow C pools in the concentric layers of aggregates. Aggregate exteriors contained more labile C and were characterized by greater C mineralization rates than their interiors in both management systems. In contrast, C in the interior layers of aggregates was more resistant in both systems. These results indicated the spatial differentiation of C dynamics within macroaggregates, i.e., exterior layers as a reactive site and interior layers as a protective site. Greater total C distribution in the exterior layers of NT aggregates indicated more influx of C from the macropores in interaggregate space than C. mineralization (net gain of C), whereas lower C distribution within the exterior layers of CT aggregates indicated net loss of C by greater C mineralization than C influx. We found total C increased approximately 1.6-fold by the conversion of CT soils to NT management systems for a period of 36 years. Differences in total accumulation and the spatial distribution of C within aggregates affected by management were attributed to the differences in aggregate stability and pore networks controlling the spatial heterogeneities of resource availability and microbial activity within aggregates.