《Assessing the impact of land-use change on soil C sequestration in agricultural 》.pdf

Global Change Biology (2003) 9, 1204–1213 Assessing the impact of land-use change on soil C sequestration in agricultural soils by means of organic matter fractionation and stable C isotopes I L A R I A D E L G A L D O * w , J O H A N S I X w z, A L E S S A N D R O P E R E S S O T T I § and M . F R A N C E S C A C O T R U F O * * ` Dip. Scienze Ambientali, Seconda Universita di Napoli, via Vivaldi 43, 81100 Caserta, Italy, wNatural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA, zDepartment of Agronomy and Range Science, ` University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA, §DPVTA, Universita di Udine, viale delle Scienze 208, 33100 Udine, Italy Abstract Within the framework of the Kyoto Protocol, the potential mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions by terrestrial ecosystems has placed focus on carbon sequestration following afforestation of former arable land. Central to this soil C sequestration are the dynamics of soil organic matter (SOM). In North Eastern Italy, a mixed deciduous forest was planted on continuous maize field soil with a strong C4 isotopic C signature 20 years ago. In addition, a continuous maize field and a relic of the original permanent grassland were maintained at the site, thus offering the opportunity to compare the impacts on soil C dynamics by conventional agriculture, afforestation and permanent grassland. Soil samples from the afforested, grassland and agricultured systems were separated in three aggregate size classes, and inter- vs. intra-aggregate particulate organic matter was isolated. All fractions were analyzed for their C c