Soil evaporation and organic matter turnover in the Sub-Taiga and Forest-Steppe of southwest Siberia

• Published in: Scientific Reports
• Main Authors: Kayler, Zachary E., Brédoire, Félix, Mcmillan, Helene, Barsukov, Pavel A., Rusalimova, Olga, Nikitich, Polina, Bakker, Mark R., Zeller, Bernhard, Fontaine, Sébastien, Derrien, Delphine
• Other Authors: Institute for Landscape Biogeochemistry, Leibniz-Zentrum für Agrarlandschaftsforschung = Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), University of Idaho Moscow, USA, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Unité de recherche Biogéochimie des Ecosystèmes Forestiers (BEF), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Interactions Sol Plante Atmosphère (UMR ISPA), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Sciences Agronomiques de Bordeaux-Aquitaine (Bordeaux Sciences Agro), Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), Institute of Soil Science and Agrochemistry (RISSAC), Unité Mixte de Recherche sur l'Ecosystème Prairial - UMR (UREP), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-VetAgro Sup - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur et de recherche en alimentation, santé animale, sciences agronomiques et de l'environnement (VAS), ANR-11-LABX-0002,ARBRE,Recherches Avancées sur l'Arbre et les Ecosytèmes Forestiers(2011)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2018
• Subjects: carbon turnover; carbon isotopy; hydrogen isotopy; évaporation; [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes; taiga; Siberia
• Online Access: https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-02624150; https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-02624150/document; https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-02624150/file/2018_Kayler_ScientificReports_1.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-28977-8

International audience Southwest Siberia encompasses the forest-steppe and sub-taiga climatic zones and has historically been utilized for agriculture. Coinciding with predicted changes in climate for the region is the pressure of agricultural development; however, a characterization of the soil water and carbon dynamics is lacking. We assessed current soil water properties and soil organic carbon turnover in forests and grasslands for two sites that span the forest steppe and sub-taiga bioclimatic zones. Soil evaporation was 0.62±0.17mm d−1 (mean±standard error) in grasslands and 0.45±0.08mm d−1 in the forests of the forest-steppe site. Evaporation at the sub-taiga site was 1.80±1.70mm d−1 in grasslands and 0.96±0.05mm d−1 in forest plots. Evaporation was signifcantly greater at the sub-taiga site than the forest-steppe site. The density of fne roots explained the soil water isotopic patterns between vegetation types and sites. We found soil organic matter turnover to be three times faster in the sub-taiga site than in the forest-steppe site. Our results show that while climate factors, in particular snow levels, between the two sites are drivers for water and carbon cycles, site level hydrology, soil characteristics, and vegetation directly interact to infuence the water and carbon dynamics.