Award details

Mechanistic descriptions for organic matter turnover in planted soils

Reference	BBS/E/C/00004977
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Professor Keith Goulding
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors
Institution	Rothamsted Research
Department	Rothamsted Research Department
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	169,754
Status	Completed
Type	Institute Project
Start date	01/04/2008
End date	31/03/2012
Duration	48 months

Abstract

The quantity and quality of organic matter entering the soil is driven by plant root growth and turnover. The movement, recycling and fate of these inputs beyond the rhizosphere affects the structural arrangement of mineral particles in the soil, and thus key properties relevant to agricultural land use. We have a unique modelling framework that describes the bulk turnover of carbon and nitrogen according to the abundance (and established dynamic) of discrete soil organic matter fractions, which can be measured and monitored using a validated and widely cited and applied separation procedure that we also developed. Managed land, including research experiments, is at best in a state of 'dynamic equilibrium' due to seasonal root activity. We propose that the long-term Highfield bare fallow is closest to genuine equilibrium, having had almost no plant input for 60 years, and become highly depleted in organic matter. Monitoring, analysis and characterisation of organic matter fractions from this soil, replanted both with grass and wheat will, in the absence of 'noise' from other fresh organic matter, enable the dynamics of the new root-derived material to be evaluated by modelling the process of transition. Objectives: 1. We will explicitly distinguish the dynamics of material derived from roots, and material added as physically incorporated manure, plant litter, and crop residues. 2. We will qualitatively, and later quantitatively, compare, using the same tools, the turnover of carbon in 'stratified' (grassland) and 'mixed' (arable) soil systems, and link the differences to simultaneous measurement (from another project) of meso-faunal activity.

Summary

unavailable

Committee	Closed Committee - Agri-food (AF)
Research Topics	Crop Science, Plant Science, Soil Science
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	X - not in an Initiative
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

I accept the terms and conditions of use (opens in new window)

export PDF file

back to list new search