The influence of soil frost on the quality of dissolved organic carbon in a boreal forest soil: combining field and laboratory experiments

Abstract

Riparian soils exert a major control on stream water dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in northern latitudes. As the winter climate in northern regions is predicted to be particularly affected by climate change, we tested the sensitivity of DOC formation to winter conditions in riparian soils using an 8 year field-scale soil frost manipulation experiment in northern Sweden. In conjunction with the field experiment, we also carried out a laboratory experiment based on three levels of four winter climatic factors: frost intensity, soil water content, frost duration and frequency of freeze–thaw cycles. We evaluated changes in lability of DOC in soil solution from lysimeter samples taken at different depths (10–80 cm) as well as from DOC extracted from soils in the laboratory, using carbon-specific ultraviolet absorbance at 254 nm (sUVA254). In the field, significantly more labile DOC was observed during the spring and summer from upper horizons of frost-exposed soils, when compared to controls. In addition, the amount of labile DOC was positively correlated with frost duration at a soil depth of 10 cm. In the laboratory, frost intensity was the factor that had the greatest positive influence on DOC lability; it also reduced the C:N ratio which may indicate a microbial origin of the DOC. The laboratory experiment also demonstrated significant interactions between some of the applied climatic factors, such as frost intensity interacting with water content. In combination, field and laboratory experiments demonstrate that winter soil conditions have profound effects on DOC-concentration and quality during subsequent seasons.