Soil carbon stocks across Panamanian tropical forests regulated by base cation effects on fine roots
Tropical forests are the most carbon (C)-rich ecosystems on Earth, containing 25–40% of global terrestrial C stocks. While large-scale quantification of aboveground biomass in tropical forests has improved recently, soil C dynamics remain one of the largest sources of uncertainty in Earth system mod...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
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Springer
2017
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| _version_ | 1797104924075491328 |
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| author | Cusack, DF Markesteijn, L Lewis, OT Turner, BL |
| author_facet | Cusack, DF Markesteijn, L Lewis, OT Turner, BL |
| author_sort | Cusack, DF |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Tropical forests are the most carbon (C)-rich ecosystems on Earth, containing 25–40% of global terrestrial C stocks. While large-scale quantification of aboveground biomass in tropical forests has improved recently, soil C dynamics remain one of the largest sources of uncertainty in Earth system models, which inhibits our ability to predict future climate. Globally, soil texture and climate predict ≤ 30% of the variation in soil C stocks, so ecosystem models often predict soil C using measures of aboveground plant growth. However, this approach can underestimate tropical soil C stocks, and is inaccurate when compared with soil C for data-rich northern ecosystems. By quantifying soil organic C stocks to 1 m depth for 48 humid tropical forest plots across gradients of rainfall and soil fertility in Panama, we show that soil C across these diverse tropical forests does not correlate with common predictors used in models, such as plant biomass or litter production. Instead, a structural equation model including base cations, soil clay content, and rainfall as exogenous factors and root biomass as an endogenous factor predicted nearly 50% of the variation in tropical soil C stocks, indicating a strong indirect effect of base cation availability on tropical soil C. Including soil cations in C cycle models, and thus emphasizing mechanistic links among nutrients, root biomass, and soil C stocks, will improve prediction of climate-soil feedbacks in tropical forests. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T06:40:20Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:f910a0c4-5403-4d27-b390-3d16b293e854 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T06:40:20Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Springer |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:f910a0c4-5403-4d27-b390-3d16b293e8542022-03-27T12:55:08ZSoil carbon stocks across Panamanian tropical forests regulated by base cation effects on fine rootsJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:f910a0c4-5403-4d27-b390-3d16b293e854Symplectic Elements at OxfordSpringer2017Cusack, DFMarkesteijn, LLewis, OTTurner, BLTropical forests are the most carbon (C)-rich ecosystems on Earth, containing 25–40% of global terrestrial C stocks. While large-scale quantification of aboveground biomass in tropical forests has improved recently, soil C dynamics remain one of the largest sources of uncertainty in Earth system models, which inhibits our ability to predict future climate. Globally, soil texture and climate predict ≤ 30% of the variation in soil C stocks, so ecosystem models often predict soil C using measures of aboveground plant growth. However, this approach can underestimate tropical soil C stocks, and is inaccurate when compared with soil C for data-rich northern ecosystems. By quantifying soil organic C stocks to 1 m depth for 48 humid tropical forest plots across gradients of rainfall and soil fertility in Panama, we show that soil C across these diverse tropical forests does not correlate with common predictors used in models, such as plant biomass or litter production. Instead, a structural equation model including base cations, soil clay content, and rainfall as exogenous factors and root biomass as an endogenous factor predicted nearly 50% of the variation in tropical soil C stocks, indicating a strong indirect effect of base cation availability on tropical soil C. Including soil cations in C cycle models, and thus emphasizing mechanistic links among nutrients, root biomass, and soil C stocks, will improve prediction of climate-soil feedbacks in tropical forests. |
| spellingShingle | Cusack, DF Markesteijn, L Lewis, OT Turner, BL Soil carbon stocks across Panamanian tropical forests regulated by base cation effects on fine roots |
| title | Soil carbon stocks across Panamanian tropical forests regulated by base cation effects on fine roots |
| title_full | Soil carbon stocks across Panamanian tropical forests regulated by base cation effects on fine roots |
| title_fullStr | Soil carbon stocks across Panamanian tropical forests regulated by base cation effects on fine roots |
| title_full_unstemmed | Soil carbon stocks across Panamanian tropical forests regulated by base cation effects on fine roots |
| title_short | Soil carbon stocks across Panamanian tropical forests regulated by base cation effects on fine roots |
| title_sort | soil carbon stocks across panamanian tropical forests regulated by base cation effects on fine roots |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT cusackdf soilcarbonstocksacrosspanamaniantropicalforestsregulatedbybasecationeffectsonfineroots AT markesteijnl soilcarbonstocksacrosspanamaniantropicalforestsregulatedbybasecationeffectsonfineroots AT lewisot soilcarbonstocksacrosspanamaniantropicalforestsregulatedbybasecationeffectsonfineroots AT turnerbl soilcarbonstocksacrosspanamaniantropicalforestsregulatedbybasecationeffectsonfineroots |