Effects of land use and mineral characteristics on the organic carbon content, and the amount and composition of Na-pyrophosphate-soluble organic matter, in subsurface soils

Land use and mineral characteristics affect the ability of surface as well as subsurface soils to sequester organic carbon and their contribution to mitigation of the greenhouse effect. There is less information about the effects of land use and soil properties on the amount and composition of organic matter (OM) for subsurface soils as compared with surface soils. Here we aimed to analyse the long-term (≥ 100 years) impact of arable and forest land use and soil mineral characteristics on subsurface soil organic carbon (SOC) contents, as well as on amount and composition of OM sequentially separated by Na pyrophosphate solution (OM(PY)) from subsurface soil samples. Seven soils with different mineral characteristics (Albic and Haplic Luvisol, Colluvic and Haplic Regosol, Haplic and Vertic Cambisol, Haplic Stagnosol) were selected from within Germany. Soil samples were taken from subsurface horizons of forest and adjacent arable sites continuously used for >100 years. The OM(PY) fractions were analysed for their OC content (OCPY) and characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Multiple regression analyses for the arable subsurface soils indicated significant positive relationships between the SOC contents and combined effects of the (i) exchangeable Ca (Caex) and oxalate-soluble Fe (Feox) and (ii) the Caex and Alox contents. For these soils the increase in OC (OCPY multiplied by the relative C=O content of OM(PY)) and increasing contents of Caex indicated that OM(PY) mainly interacts with Ca²⁺. For the forest subsurface soils (pH < 5), the OCPY contents were related to the contents of Na-pyrophosphate-soluble Fe and Al. The long-term arable and forest land use seems to result in different OM(PY)-mineral interactions in subsurface soils. On the basis of this, we hypothesize that a long-term land-use change from arable to forest may lead to a shift from mainly OM(PY)-Ca²⁺ to mainly OM(PY)-Fe³⁺ and -Al³⁺ interactions if the pH of subsurface soils significantly decreases to <5.