Grassland soil organic carbon and the effects of irrigated cropping in Alberta, Canada

Abstract

AbstractHigh heterogeneity in the spatial distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC) in grasslands causes uncertainty in estimating its content and storage. In this study, we investigated the spatial distribution of SOC content and storage in the prairies of southern Alberta, Canada, and how it is affected by land use such as irrigated cropping and other environmental conditions such as cattle grazing, slope landscape position and dominant plant species. The mean SOC content was determined to be 11.5 g kg–1 (range: 8.9 to 22.4 g kg–1) in the 0–10 cm layer and 6.8 g kg–1 (range: 4.0 to 13.3 g kg–1) in the 10–30 cm layer; mean SOC storage was 1.59 kg C m–2 (range: 1.23 to 2.78 kg C m–2) in the 0–10 cm layer and 2.07 kg C m–2 (range: 1.21 to 3.62 kg C m–2) in the 10–30 cm layer. The SOC content was significantly affected by slope position in both the 0–10 and 10–30 cm layers, in the following order: bottom >middle > top position. Moreover, SOC storage was higher in sites dominated by shrubs than graminoid/forb communities. Thus, SOC content and storage had distinctly clustered spatial patterns throughout the study area and were significant differences between the 0–10 and 10–30 cm soil layers. Prior land‐use change from arid grassland to irrigated cropland increased SOC content and storage in bulk soils.