Origin and dynamics of soil organic matter and vegetation changes during the Holocene in a forest-savanna transition zone, Brazilian Amazon region

Carbon isotope data on soil organic matter (SOM) were collected along an ecosystem transect 90 m in length that includes a tropical forest on the plateau, a transitional forest-savanna and savanna in a depression. Total organic carbon data show a significant increase in carbon content from sites representing forest ecosystem to sites representing savanna ecosystem. It was hypothesized that carbon accumulation in the depression is controlled by flooding conditions that slow down carbon decomposition and in part by carbon transport from the upper part of the transect (the savanna and the transition forest-savanna areas) into the depressions by water during the rainy season. The origin of the carbon was confirmed by using soil ¹³ C analysis. The savanna sites located in the depression showed δ ¹³C values between –19.5‰ and –22.5‰ indicating a mixture of C3 and C4 plants. The vegetation cover in the depression is predominantly C3 grasses with d ¹³C values of about –27‰ and –26‰. In the site under savanna located at an elevation slightly higher, the d ¹³C value was more enriched (–16‰) showing the predominance of C4 plants (d ¹³C of –13.6‰). At the forest-savanna transition and in the forest ecosystem the d ¹³C values were characteristic of C3 plants (–25‰ and –28.1‰). ¹⁴C and ¹³C data indicate that the organic matter of mixed origin has been deposited for at least the last 7000 years in the savanna depressions. The ¹³C pattern observed in the soil organic matter profiles indicate a predominance of C3 plants in the early part of the Holocene. About 7000 to 4000 years ago, the data show the influence of C4 plants, indicating forest regression associated with a drier climate than at present. The more recent 13 C records suggest forest expansion, and the return to a climate similar to the present.