Soil organic carbon dynamics 75 years after land-use change in perennial grassland and annual wheat agricultural systems

Abstract

The dynamics of roots and soil organic carbon (SOC) in deeper soil layers are amongst the least well understood components of the global C cycle, but essential if soil C is to be managed effectively. This study utilized a unique set of land-use pairings of harvested tallgrass prairie grasslands (C4) and annual wheat croplands (C3) that were under continuous management for 75 years to investigate and compare the storage, turnover and allocation of SOC in the two systems to 1 m depth. Cropland soils contained 25 % less SOC than grassland soils (115 and 153 Mg C ha−1, respectively) to 1 m depth, and had lower SOC contents in all particle size fractions (2000–250, 250–53, 53–2 and 40 cm) layers and mineral-associated (<53 μm) SOC. Grassland soils had significantly more visible root biomass C than cropland soils (3.2 and 0.6 Mg ha−1, respectively) and microbial biomass C (3.7 and 1.3 Mg ha−1, respectively) up to 1 m depth. The outcomes of this study demonstrated that: (i) SOC pools that are perceived to be stable, i.e. subsoil and mineral-associated SOC, are affected by land-use change; and, (ii) managed perennial grasslands contained larger SOC stocks and exhibited much larger C allocations to root and microbial pools than annual croplands throughout the soil profile.