Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/14271
Title: Land-use and historical management effects on soil organic carbon in grazing systems on the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales
Contributor(s): Wilson, Brian  (author)orcid ; Lonergan, Vanessa  (author)
Publication Date: 2013
DOI: 10.1071/SR12376
Handle Link: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/14271
Abstract: We examined soil organic carbon (SOC) concentration (mg g⁻¹) and total organic carbon (TOC) stock (Mg ha-1 to 30 cm soil depth) in three pasture systems in northern New South Wales: improved pasture, native pasture, and lightly wooded pasture, at two sampling times (2009 and 2011). No significant difference was found in SOC or TOC between sample times, suggesting that under the conditions we examined, neither 2 years nor an intervening significant rainfall event was sufficient to change the quantity or our capacity to detect SOC, and neither represented a barrier to soil carbon accounting. Low fertility, lightly wooded pastures had a slightly but significantly lower SOC concentration, particularly in the surface soil layers. However, no significant differences in TOC were detected between the three pasture systems studied, and from a carbon estimation perspective, they represent one, single dataset. A wide range in TOC values existed within the dataset that could not be explained by environmental factors. The TOC was weakly but significantly correlated with soil nitrogen and phosphorus, but a more significant pattern seemed to be the association of high TOC with proportionally larger subsoil (0.1-0.3 m) organic carbon storage. This we attribute to historical, long-term rather than contemporary management. Of the SOC fractions, particulate organic carbon (POC) dominated in the surface layers but diminished with depth, whereas the proportion of humic carbon (HUM) and resistant organic carbon (ROC) increased with soil depth. The POC did not differ between the pasture systems but native pasture had larger quantities of HUM and ROC, particularly in the surface soil layers, suggesting that this pasture system tends to accumulate organic carbon in more resistant forms, presumably because of litter input quality and historical management.
Publication Type: Journal Article
Source of Publication: Soil Research, 51(7-8), p. 668-679
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Place of Publication: Australia
ISSN: 1838-6768
1838-675X
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: 050301 Carbon Sequestration Science
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: 410101 Carbon sequestration science
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: 960302 Climate Change Mitigation Strategies
961406 Sparseland, Permanent Grassland and Arid Zone Soils
961402 Farmland, Arable Cropland and Permanent Cropland Soils
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: 190301 Climate change mitigation strategies
180605 Soils
Peer Reviewed: Yes
HERDC Category Description: C1 Refereed Article in a Scholarly Journal
Appears in Collections:Journal Article
School of Environmental and Rural Science

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