Changes in organic carbon to clay ratios in different soils and land uses in England and Wales over time.

ABSTRACT: Realistic targets for soil organic carbon (SOC) concentrations are needed, accounting for differences between soils and land uses. We assess the use of SOC/clay ratio for this purpose by comparing changes over time in (a) the National Soil Inventory of England and Wales, first sampled in 1978-1983 and resampled in 1994-2003, and (b) two long-term experiments under ley-arable rotations on contrasting soils in the East of England. The results showed that normalising for clay concentration provides a more meaningful separation between land uses than changes in SOC alone. Almost half of arable soils in the NSI had degraded SOC/clay ratios (< 1/13), compared with just 5% of permanent grass and woodland soils. Soils with initially large SOC/clay ratios (≥ 1/8) were prone to greater losses of SOC

SUBMITTER: Prout JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8956621 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature