Invasive Earthworms and their effect on Soil Organic Matter : Impact on Soil Carbon ‘Quality’ in Fennoscandian Tundra
Arctic soils contain a large fraction of our planets terrestrial carbon (C) pool. When tundra soils become warmer and permafrost thaws, non-native geoengineering earthworms can enter these soils and ingest organic matter accumulated over long timescales. Previous studies have found that earthworms i...
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Umeå universitet, Institutionen för ekologi, miljö och geovetenskap
2021
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ftsprs:oai:DiVA.org:polar-8889 2023-05-15T15:00:53+02:00 Invasive Earthworms and their effect on Soil Organic Matter : Impact on Soil Carbon ‘Quality’ in Fennoscandian Tundra Arvidsson, Emeli 2021 application/pdf http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:polar:diva-8889 eng eng Umeå universitet, Institutionen för ekologi, miljö och geovetenskap http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:polar:diva-8889 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Geoengineering earthworms Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy carbon compound composition 13C Arctic tundra Natural Sciences Naturvetenskap Biological Sciences Biologiska vetenskaper Earth and Related Environmental Sciences Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap Student thesis info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis text 2021 ftsprs 2022-12-07T23:35:30Z Arctic soils contain a large fraction of our planets terrestrial carbon (C) pool. When tundra soils become warmer and permafrost thaws, non-native geoengineering earthworms can enter these soils and ingest organic matter accumulated over long timescales. Previous studies have found that earthworms increase mineralization rates of soil organic matter into carbon dioxide (CO2) when introduced. Yet, this initial mineralization boost seems transient with time and it has been hypothesized that earthworms stimulate the formation of persistent C forms. In this study, I investigated how non-native, geoengineering earthworms affected the relative proportions of seven carbon forms in the O and A1 horizon of tundra soil and if their effect induced a change in pH. I used Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to understand what happens to soil carbon compounds in two different tundra vegetation types (heath and meadow), that had been subjected to earthworm treatment for three summers. I found that O-aromatic C increased from 7.22% ± 0.24 (mean ± stderr) in the meadow soil lacking earthworms to 8.98% ± 0.30 in the meadow exposed to earthworms, and that aromatic C increased from 8.71% ± 0.23 to 9.93% ± 0.25. In similar, the result suggested that alkyl C decreased in this vegetation type from 20.43% ± 0.38 to 18.70% ± 0.25 due to earthworm activities. I found no effect on the chemical properties in the heath. I conclude that geoengineering earthworms affect the two vegetation types differently and that earthworms seem to enhance the accumulation of recalcitrant aromatic C forms. Bachelor Thesis Arctic Fennoscandian permafrost Tundra Swedish Polar Research Secretariat: Swedish Polar Bibliography (DiVA) Arctic |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Swedish Polar Research Secretariat: Swedish Polar Bibliography (DiVA) |
op_collection_id |
ftsprs |
language |
English |
topic |
Geoengineering earthworms Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy carbon compound composition 13C Arctic tundra Natural Sciences Naturvetenskap Biological Sciences Biologiska vetenskaper Earth and Related Environmental Sciences Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap |
spellingShingle |
Geoengineering earthworms Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy carbon compound composition 13C Arctic tundra Natural Sciences Naturvetenskap Biological Sciences Biologiska vetenskaper Earth and Related Environmental Sciences Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap Arvidsson, Emeli Invasive Earthworms and their effect on Soil Organic Matter : Impact on Soil Carbon ‘Quality’ in Fennoscandian Tundra |
topic_facet |
Geoengineering earthworms Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy carbon compound composition 13C Arctic tundra Natural Sciences Naturvetenskap Biological Sciences Biologiska vetenskaper Earth and Related Environmental Sciences Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap |
description |
Arctic soils contain a large fraction of our planets terrestrial carbon (C) pool. When tundra soils become warmer and permafrost thaws, non-native geoengineering earthworms can enter these soils and ingest organic matter accumulated over long timescales. Previous studies have found that earthworms increase mineralization rates of soil organic matter into carbon dioxide (CO2) when introduced. Yet, this initial mineralization boost seems transient with time and it has been hypothesized that earthworms stimulate the formation of persistent C forms. In this study, I investigated how non-native, geoengineering earthworms affected the relative proportions of seven carbon forms in the O and A1 horizon of tundra soil and if their effect induced a change in pH. I used Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to understand what happens to soil carbon compounds in two different tundra vegetation types (heath and meadow), that had been subjected to earthworm treatment for three summers. I found that O-aromatic C increased from 7.22% ± 0.24 (mean ± stderr) in the meadow soil lacking earthworms to 8.98% ± 0.30 in the meadow exposed to earthworms, and that aromatic C increased from 8.71% ± 0.23 to 9.93% ± 0.25. In similar, the result suggested that alkyl C decreased in this vegetation type from 20.43% ± 0.38 to 18.70% ± 0.25 due to earthworm activities. I found no effect on the chemical properties in the heath. I conclude that geoengineering earthworms affect the two vegetation types differently and that earthworms seem to enhance the accumulation of recalcitrant aromatic C forms. |
format |
Bachelor Thesis |
author |
Arvidsson, Emeli |
author_facet |
Arvidsson, Emeli |
author_sort |
Arvidsson, Emeli |
title |
Invasive Earthworms and their effect on Soil Organic Matter : Impact on Soil Carbon ‘Quality’ in Fennoscandian Tundra |
title_short |
Invasive Earthworms and their effect on Soil Organic Matter : Impact on Soil Carbon ‘Quality’ in Fennoscandian Tundra |
title_full |
Invasive Earthworms and their effect on Soil Organic Matter : Impact on Soil Carbon ‘Quality’ in Fennoscandian Tundra |
title_fullStr |
Invasive Earthworms and their effect on Soil Organic Matter : Impact on Soil Carbon ‘Quality’ in Fennoscandian Tundra |
title_full_unstemmed |
Invasive Earthworms and their effect on Soil Organic Matter : Impact on Soil Carbon ‘Quality’ in Fennoscandian Tundra |
title_sort |
invasive earthworms and their effect on soil organic matter : impact on soil carbon ‘quality’ in fennoscandian tundra |
publisher |
Umeå universitet, Institutionen för ekologi, miljö och geovetenskap |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:polar:diva-8889 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Fennoscandian permafrost Tundra |
genre_facet |
Arctic Fennoscandian permafrost Tundra |
op_relation |
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:polar:diva-8889 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
_version_ |
1766332930445017088 |