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Effect of Changing Rainfall and Temperature on Biochemical Composition of Soil Organic Matter


EMSL Project ID
25620

Abstract

We are proposing to use 13C-NMR spectroscopy to analyze the relative abundance of organic functional groups in soil organic matter (SOM) in order to better understand the stability of SOM under changing climatic conditions. This work will advance our understanding of the effects of anticipated global climate change on carbon sequestration in soils. The project studying the effect of changing amount and seasonality of rainfall on the molecular architecture of SOM is being conducted in a rainfall manipulation experiment in Mendocino county, Northern California. The second project examining the biochemical composition of permafrost and non-permafrost C is being conducted on a transect in interior Alaska.

Project Details

Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
Start Date
2007-09-01
End Date
2009-09-30
Status
Closed

Team

Principal Investigator

Asmeret Berhe
Institution
University of California, Merced

Team Members

Mark Waldrop
Institution
US Geological Survey, Menlo Park

Jillian Banfield
Institution
University of California, Berkeley

Related Publications

Berhe AA, JW Harden, MS Torn, M Kleber, SD Burton, and J Harte. 2012. "Persistence of soil organic matter in eroding versus depositional landform positions." Journal of Geophysical Research. Biogeosciences 117(G2):Article No. G02019. doi:10.1029/2011JG001790
Berhe AA, SB K., SD Burton, and JF Banfield. 2011. "Contingency in the Direction and Mechanics of Soil Organic Matter Responses to Increased Rainfall." PNNL-SA-78851, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA.
Waldrop MP, KP Wickland, R White III, AA Berhe, JW Harden, and VE Romanovsky. 2010. "Molecular investigations into a globally important carbon pool: permafrost-protected carbon in Alaskan soils." Global Change Biology 16(9):2543-2554. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2009.02141.x