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Effect of drought duration on C mineralization


EMSL Project ID
51618

Abstract

Drought and inundation events have been linked to increases in SOM availability and carbon mineralization. The duration of a drought event impacts the ability of the soil microbial community to recover, and this results in changes to the patterns of CO2 emissions. Given the increases in prolonged drought, coupled with the increasing frequency of severe precipitation events, it is possible that the soil C cycle, and associated GHG emissions are going to be increasingly uncertain as climate continues to change. Our objective is to determine how the duration and intensity of drought influences soil organic carbon chemistry. Here we seek to examine the proportional change of aromatic molecules in the soluble carbon pool due to the destabilization of organo-mineral interfaces as soils experience drought. We predict that soil microbial communities experiencing prolonged drought conditions will show greater variability upon re-wetting.

Project Details

Start Date
2020-08-25
End Date
2020-12-31
Status
Closed

Team

Principal Investigator

Sarah Fansler
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Co-Investigator(s)

Vanessa Bailey
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Team Members

Kaizad Patel
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory