Stability of carbon pools and fluxes of a Technosol along a 7-year reclamation chronosequence at an asbestos mine in Canada

Abstract

Improved land stewardship is necessary for climate change mitigation. As such, actions are needed to increase carbon (C) sinks and reduce C emissions from land use activities. Residual materials with fertilizing capacity can be used to reconstruct severely degraded soils and recreate a sustainable vegetation cover, leading to reductions in atmospheric CO2 levels. We studied the temporal dynamics of CO2 sequestration potential in soils reconstructed with 1200 Mg ha−1 biosolids along a young chronosequence ranging from 0 to 7 years after initiating reclamation of a decommissioned asbestos mine in southern Québec, Canada. We measured in situ soil CO2 fluxes, soil C pools and soil physicochemical properties. Since bacterial communities are highly responsive to soil physicochemical properties, we also analyzed both their diversity and community structure. The age since soil reclamation did not have a clear effect on soil properties, but it exerted greater control over soil C fluxes and soil bacterial community diversity and structure. Our results suggest large C fluxes to the atmosphere within the first year following soil reconstruction, but soils constitute a stable C pool thereafter.