A study of factors controlling pH in Arctic tundra soils
In Arctic tundra soils pH serves as an important parameter related to several biotic parameters such as, plant and microbial community composition, biodiversity, nutrient dynamics and productivity. Both abiotic and biotic factors, for instance, base saturation (BS) and plant nutrient uptake may exer...
Main Author: | |
---|---|
Format: | Bachelor Thesis |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Umeå universitet, Institutionen för ekologi, miljö och geovetenskap
2019
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-163364 |
id |
ftumeauniv:oai:DiVA.org:umu-163364 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftumeauniv:oai:DiVA.org:umu-163364 2023-10-09T21:48:29+02:00 A study of factors controlling pH in Arctic tundra soils Thomas, Jacob 2019 application/pdf http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-163364 eng eng Umeå universitet, Institutionen för ekologi, miljö och geovetenskap http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-163364 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess pH Arctic tundra soils base saturation base cations cation exchange capacity Natural Sciences Naturvetenskap Student thesis info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis text 2019 ftumeauniv 2023-09-22T13:51:40Z In Arctic tundra soils pH serves as an important parameter related to several biotic parameters such as, plant and microbial community composition, biodiversity, nutrient dynamics and productivity. Both abiotic and biotic factors, for instance, base saturation (BS) and plant nutrient uptake may exert a control on soil pH, while it is still unclear to what extent different factors can explain soil pH across different tundra vegetation types. The aim of this study was to investigate to what extent different abiotic and biotic factors influence soil pH in the humus layer across different tundra vegetation types. To do so, eight different tundra vegetation types of which four were underlaid by permafrost (Arctic Alaska) and four with no permafrost (Arctic Sweden) were studied in detail with regard to different properties affecting soil pH. I found that BS was the main factor controlling soil pH across the different vegetation types regardless if the soil was underlain by permafrost or not. Factors, such as, ionic strength or soil water content could not explain any overall pH variation and did only significantly affect the heath soils. Further, the uptake of the most abundant base cations (Ca2+, Mg2+ and K+) from meadow and heath vegetation revealed a high difference between plant functional groups within the same vegetation types. The higher dominance of slow growing woody species in heath vegetation which had a lower uptake corresponded with a lower BC content (especially (Ca2+), pH and BS in the humus soil relative the meadow meanwhile the content of K+ was more than three times higher in heath. Overall, this study suggests that the degree of neutralization (base saturation) regulates pH either via the influence of bedrock and hydrogeochemistry and/or via plant traits that affects the uptake and turnover of base cations. Bachelor Thesis Arctic permafrost Tundra Alaska Umeå University: Publications (DiVA) Arctic |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Umeå University: Publications (DiVA) |
op_collection_id |
ftumeauniv |
language |
English |
topic |
pH Arctic tundra soils base saturation base cations cation exchange capacity Natural Sciences Naturvetenskap |
spellingShingle |
pH Arctic tundra soils base saturation base cations cation exchange capacity Natural Sciences Naturvetenskap Thomas, Jacob A study of factors controlling pH in Arctic tundra soils |
topic_facet |
pH Arctic tundra soils base saturation base cations cation exchange capacity Natural Sciences Naturvetenskap |
description |
In Arctic tundra soils pH serves as an important parameter related to several biotic parameters such as, plant and microbial community composition, biodiversity, nutrient dynamics and productivity. Both abiotic and biotic factors, for instance, base saturation (BS) and plant nutrient uptake may exert a control on soil pH, while it is still unclear to what extent different factors can explain soil pH across different tundra vegetation types. The aim of this study was to investigate to what extent different abiotic and biotic factors influence soil pH in the humus layer across different tundra vegetation types. To do so, eight different tundra vegetation types of which four were underlaid by permafrost (Arctic Alaska) and four with no permafrost (Arctic Sweden) were studied in detail with regard to different properties affecting soil pH. I found that BS was the main factor controlling soil pH across the different vegetation types regardless if the soil was underlain by permafrost or not. Factors, such as, ionic strength or soil water content could not explain any overall pH variation and did only significantly affect the heath soils. Further, the uptake of the most abundant base cations (Ca2+, Mg2+ and K+) from meadow and heath vegetation revealed a high difference between plant functional groups within the same vegetation types. The higher dominance of slow growing woody species in heath vegetation which had a lower uptake corresponded with a lower BC content (especially (Ca2+), pH and BS in the humus soil relative the meadow meanwhile the content of K+ was more than three times higher in heath. Overall, this study suggests that the degree of neutralization (base saturation) regulates pH either via the influence of bedrock and hydrogeochemistry and/or via plant traits that affects the uptake and turnover of base cations. |
format |
Bachelor Thesis |
author |
Thomas, Jacob |
author_facet |
Thomas, Jacob |
author_sort |
Thomas, Jacob |
title |
A study of factors controlling pH in Arctic tundra soils |
title_short |
A study of factors controlling pH in Arctic tundra soils |
title_full |
A study of factors controlling pH in Arctic tundra soils |
title_fullStr |
A study of factors controlling pH in Arctic tundra soils |
title_full_unstemmed |
A study of factors controlling pH in Arctic tundra soils |
title_sort |
study of factors controlling ph in arctic tundra soils |
publisher |
Umeå universitet, Institutionen för ekologi, miljö och geovetenskap |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-163364 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic permafrost Tundra Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic permafrost Tundra Alaska |
op_relation |
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-163364 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
_version_ |
1779311557438603264 |