Up to 50% of organic C and 80% of organic N within soil can exist as amino acids, amino sugars and carbohydrates. To determine how potential microbial accessibility and turnover of these compounds is impacted by encroachment of woody plants into grasslands, we investigated changes in evolved CO2 during thermal analysis and in carbohydrate and amino compound chemistry after long term laboratory ...

The components of soil organic matter (SOM) and their degradation dynamics in forest soils are difficult to study and thus poorly understood, due to time-consuming sample collection, preparation, and difficulty of analyzing and identifying major components. As a result, changes in soil organic matter chemical composition as a function of age, forest type, or disturbance have not been examined. ...

BACKGROUND Natural forest succession often affects soil physical and chemical properties. Selected physical and chemical soil properties were studied in an old-growth forest across a forest successional series in Dinghushan Nature Reserve, Southern China. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS The aim was to assess the effects of forest succession change on soil properties. Soil samples (0-20 cm dept...

Glomalin-related soil protein (GRSP), a widespread glycoprotein produced by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), is crucial for ecosystem functioning and ecological restoration. In the present study, an investigation was conducted to comprehensively analyze the effects of heavy metal (HM) contamination on AMF status, soil properties, aggregate distribution and stability, and their correlations a...

The potential for wind erosion in South Central Colorado is greatest in the spring, especially after harvesting of crops such as potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) that leave small amounts of crop residue in the surface after harvest. Therefore it is important to implement best management practices that reduce potential wind erosion and that we understand how cropping systems are impacting soil eros...

Chemical recalcitrance of biomolecules, physical protection by soil minerals and spatial inaccessibility to decomposer organisms are hypothesized to be primary controls on soil organic matter (SOM) turnover. Previous studies have observed increased sequestration of plant derived aliphatic compounds in experimentally warmed soils but did not identify the mechanisms for this enhanced preservation...

1. Introduction 1. Introduction Transport and availability of organic pollutants in soils, sediments and aquifers are closely related to the interactions of these compounds with the natural organic polymers (so-called soil organic matter [SOM], e.g. humic substances) present in these media. Contaminants may be either immobilized and retarded (and sometimes conserved for decades [1]) or transpor...

Introduction Natural variations of the C/C ratio have been frequently used over the last three decades to trace C sources and fluxes between plants, microorganisms, and soil. Most of these studies have used the natural C labelling approach, i.e. natural δC variation after C3 – C4 vegetation changes. In this mini-review, we focus on C fractionation in processes at the interface between roots, mi...

a study was conducted to determine suitable soil properties as soil quality indicators, using factor analysis in order to evaluate the effects of land use change on loessial hillslope soils of the shastkola district in golestan province, northern iran. to this end, forty surface soil (0-30 cm) samples were collected from four adjacent sites with the following land uses systems: (1) natural fore...