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DIVISION S-3-SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY

Factors Controlling Soil Carbon Levels in New Zealand Grasslands

Is Clay Content Important?

Landcare Research, Private Bag 11052, Palmerston North, New Zealand

percivalh{at}landcare.cri.nz

Soil organic matter is a major component of biogeochemical cycles and is important in maintaining soil quality. We investigated relationships between soil organic C and various soil and site properties that may influence long-term soil C accumulation across a range of soil orders in New Zealand. We used pedon and climatic data for 167 pedons under permanent grass, and carried out regression analysis between soil C (0–200 mm) contents (t ha^-1) or concentrations (g kg^-1) and climatic and soil properties, namely, precipitation, temperature, and contents or concentrations of sand, silt, clay, pyrophosphate-extractable Al (Al_py), Fe oxide, and allophane. Soil clay content or concentration explained little of the variation in soil C across all soils (R² < 0.05) and within each soil type. Likewise, mean annual precipitation and temperature explained little variation in soil C content or concentration (R² < 0.15 for precipitation, for temperature). Allophane content or concentration was unrelated to soil C in the soils of volcanic origin; Al_py, however, correlated strongly with both soil C content and soil C concentration across all soil types ( , respectively). When all factors were combined in a multiple regression analysis, the combination of Al_py and allophane contents explained the greatest amount of variation in soil C content , whereas the combination of Al_py, Fe oxide, allophane, and clay concentrations explained the greatest amount of variation in soil C concentration . Our results suggest that in New Zealand soils, chemical stabilization of organic matter is the key process controlling soil C accumulation, and that clay content relates poorly to long-term soil organic C accumulation.

Abbreviations: APPT, mean annual precipitation • APPT² the square of APPT • MAT, mean annual temperature • MAT², the square of MAT

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