Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 108058 |
| Journal | Environment international |
| Volume | 178 |
| Early online date | 25 Jun 2023 |
| Publication status | Published - Aug 2023 |
Abstract
Mineral-associated organic matter (MAOM) is the largest soil organic carbon (OC) pool with the longest turnover. MAOM is expected to have relatively little sensitivity to climate change due to mineral protection, but its persistence involves several organo-mineral fractions. The uncertainty in the response of specific organo-mineral fractions to climate change hampers the reliability of predictions of MAOM preservation in the future. Here, we applied a sequential chemical fractionation method integrated with network analysis to investigate MAOM stabilization mechanisms across five alpine ecosystems: alpine desert, alpine steppe, alpine meadow, alpine wetland, and alpine forest. Hierarchical cluster analysis revealed grouping of seven extractable OM fractions in MAOM into three OM clusters: a cluster with weak bondings consisting of water-soluble OM (WSOM) and weakly adsorbed fractions (2.1–21.3% of total OC); a cluster with metal-bound complexes comprising Ca-OM complexes and Fe/Al-OM complexes (3.8–12.2% of total OC); and a cluster with strong bonding composed of Al oxyhydroxides, carbonates and Fe oxyhydroxides (12.2–33.5% of total OC). The relative percentages of OM from soils of the five ecosystems in the three clusters exhibited distinct pH dependence patterns. With the increase in pH, the cluster with weak bondings decreased, and that with strong bondings increased, while the one with metal-bound complexes showed a maximum at weakly acidic pH. Organo-mineral fractions and metal cations in MAOM constructed a complex network with pH as the central node. Results suggest that precipitation does not only alter vegetation type and microbial biomass but also regulate soil pH, which is balanced by specific metal cations, thus resulting in particular pH preference of specific OM clusters. These findings demonstrate that soil pH plays a central role in unveiling MAOM dynamics and can serve as a good predictor of soil organo-mineral fractions across alpine ecosystems.
Keywords
- Alpine ecosystems, Major metal cations, Network, pH, Precipitation, Sequential chemical extraction
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Environmental Science(all)
- General Environmental Science
Sustainable Development Goals
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In: Environment international, Vol. 178, 108058, 08.2023.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - pH
T2 - A core node of interaction networks among soil organo-mineral fractions
AU - Niu, Bin
AU - Lei, Tianzhu
AU - Chen, Qiuyu
AU - Shao, Ming
AU - Yang, Xiaoqin
AU - Jiao, Hongzhe
AU - Yang, Yibo
AU - Guggenberger, Georg
AU - Zhang, Gengxin
N1 - Funding Information: This research was supported by grants from the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program (STEP) ( 2019QZKK0503 ) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China ( 41871066 , 41471055 ). We also thank the Naqu Alpine Grassland Ecosystem National Field Scientific Observation and Research Station; the Motuo Observation and Research Center for Earth Landscape and Earth System, Chinese Academy of Sciences; and the Southeast Tibet Observation and Research Station for the Alpine Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences (SETORS), for field sampling.
PY - 2023/8
Y1 - 2023/8
N2 - Mineral-associated organic matter (MAOM) is the largest soil organic carbon (OC) pool with the longest turnover. MAOM is expected to have relatively little sensitivity to climate change due to mineral protection, but its persistence involves several organo-mineral fractions. The uncertainty in the response of specific organo-mineral fractions to climate change hampers the reliability of predictions of MAOM preservation in the future. Here, we applied a sequential chemical fractionation method integrated with network analysis to investigate MAOM stabilization mechanisms across five alpine ecosystems: alpine desert, alpine steppe, alpine meadow, alpine wetland, and alpine forest. Hierarchical cluster analysis revealed grouping of seven extractable OM fractions in MAOM into three OM clusters: a cluster with weak bondings consisting of water-soluble OM (WSOM) and weakly adsorbed fractions (2.1–21.3% of total OC); a cluster with metal-bound complexes comprising Ca-OM complexes and Fe/Al-OM complexes (3.8–12.2% of total OC); and a cluster with strong bonding composed of Al oxyhydroxides, carbonates and Fe oxyhydroxides (12.2–33.5% of total OC). The relative percentages of OM from soils of the five ecosystems in the three clusters exhibited distinct pH dependence patterns. With the increase in pH, the cluster with weak bondings decreased, and that with strong bondings increased, while the one with metal-bound complexes showed a maximum at weakly acidic pH. Organo-mineral fractions and metal cations in MAOM constructed a complex network with pH as the central node. Results suggest that precipitation does not only alter vegetation type and microbial biomass but also regulate soil pH, which is balanced by specific metal cations, thus resulting in particular pH preference of specific OM clusters. These findings demonstrate that soil pH plays a central role in unveiling MAOM dynamics and can serve as a good predictor of soil organo-mineral fractions across alpine ecosystems.
AB - Mineral-associated organic matter (MAOM) is the largest soil organic carbon (OC) pool with the longest turnover. MAOM is expected to have relatively little sensitivity to climate change due to mineral protection, but its persistence involves several organo-mineral fractions. The uncertainty in the response of specific organo-mineral fractions to climate change hampers the reliability of predictions of MAOM preservation in the future. Here, we applied a sequential chemical fractionation method integrated with network analysis to investigate MAOM stabilization mechanisms across five alpine ecosystems: alpine desert, alpine steppe, alpine meadow, alpine wetland, and alpine forest. Hierarchical cluster analysis revealed grouping of seven extractable OM fractions in MAOM into three OM clusters: a cluster with weak bondings consisting of water-soluble OM (WSOM) and weakly adsorbed fractions (2.1–21.3% of total OC); a cluster with metal-bound complexes comprising Ca-OM complexes and Fe/Al-OM complexes (3.8–12.2% of total OC); and a cluster with strong bonding composed of Al oxyhydroxides, carbonates and Fe oxyhydroxides (12.2–33.5% of total OC). The relative percentages of OM from soils of the five ecosystems in the three clusters exhibited distinct pH dependence patterns. With the increase in pH, the cluster with weak bondings decreased, and that with strong bondings increased, while the one with metal-bound complexes showed a maximum at weakly acidic pH. Organo-mineral fractions and metal cations in MAOM constructed a complex network with pH as the central node. Results suggest that precipitation does not only alter vegetation type and microbial biomass but also regulate soil pH, which is balanced by specific metal cations, thus resulting in particular pH preference of specific OM clusters. These findings demonstrate that soil pH plays a central role in unveiling MAOM dynamics and can serve as a good predictor of soil organo-mineral fractions across alpine ecosystems.
KW - Alpine ecosystems
KW - Major metal cations
KW - Network
KW - pH
KW - Precipitation
KW - Sequential chemical extraction
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85164467830&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.envint.2023.108058
DO - 10.1016/j.envint.2023.108058
M3 - Article
C2 - 37392731
AN - SCOPUS:85164467830
VL - 178
JO - Environment international
JF - Environment international
SN - 0160-4120
M1 - 108058
ER -