| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Soil and Water Sciences Program, Dep. of Environmental Sciences, Univ. of California, Riverside, CA 92521
* Corresponding author (judith.turk{at}email.ucr.edu).
The role of forest soils in the biogeochemical cycling of C and N is most dynamic during the early stages of soil development. To define C and N trends that occur with soil development in a mixed coniferous forest, a chronosequence formed by debris flows was studied. The accumulation rates of total organic C (TOC) and total N (TN) were evaluated in soils on 10 debris flow deposits, ranging from <1 to 244 yr old. Analysis of the mineral soils was restricted to the 30-cm depth, since this was the depth of the shallowest debris flows. Carbon was found to accumulate in the organic horizons at a rate of 26.5 g m–2 yr–1 throughout the time span of the chronosequence. Total organic C accumulation in the mineral horizons (0–30 cm) occurred from 0 to 82 yr at a rate of 13 g m–2 yr–1, and was nearly stable from 82 to 244 yr. Total N accumulated at a rate of 0.57 g m–2 yr–1 in the organic horizons and a rate of 0.17 g m–2 yr–1 in the mineral horizons (0–30 cm) throughout the 244 yr chronosequence. This study suggests that C accumulation in the upper mineral horizons of young forest soils occurs for <100 yr, while N accumulation is a slower process that occurs for >250 yr. Carbon and N accumulation in the organic horizons, however, both follow a linear trend over the 244-yr period. The rates of C accumulation suggest a rapid recovery of the soil organic C pool following disturbance.
Abbreviations: SDEF, San Dimas Experimental Forest • SMRNA, Shasta Mudflow Research Natural Area • TN, total N • TOC, total organic C
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
