Soil organic carbon stocks are systematically overestimated by misuse of the parameters bulk density and rock fragment content
Estimation of soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks requires estimates of the carbon content, bulk density, rock fragment content and depth of a respective soil layer. However, different application of these parameters could introduce a considerable bias. Here, we explain why three out of four frequently...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2017-03-01
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| Series: | SOIL |
| Online Access: | http://www.soil-journal.net/3/61/2017/soil-3-61-2017.pdf |
| Summary: | Estimation of soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks requires estimates of the
carbon content, bulk density, rock fragment content and depth of a respective
soil layer. However, different application of these parameters could
introduce a considerable bias. Here, we explain why three out of four
frequently applied methods overestimate SOC stocks. In soils rich in rock
fragments (> 30 vol. %), SOC stocks could be overestimated
by more than 100 %, as revealed by using German Agricultural Soil
Inventory data. Due to relatively low rock fragments content, the mean
systematic overestimation for German agricultural soils was 2.1–10.1 %
for three different commonly used equations. The equation ensemble as
re-formulated here might help to unify SOC stock determination and avoid
overestimation in future studies. |
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| ISSN: | 2199-3971 2199-398X |