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© 2022. This work is published under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Soils account for the largest share of carbon found in terrestrial ecosystems, and their status is of considerable interest for the global carbon cycle budget and atmospheric carbon concentration. The decomposition of soil organic matter depends on environmental conditions and human activities, which raises the question of how permanent are these carbon storages under changing climate. One way to get insight into carbon decomposition processes is to analyse different carbon isotope concentrations in soil organic matter. In this paper we introduce a carbon-13-isotope-specific soil organic matter decomposition add-on into the Yasso soil carbon model and assess its functionality. The new 13C-dedicated decomposition is straightforward to implement and depends linearly on the default Yasso model parameters and the relative carbon isotope (13C/12C) concentration. The model modifications are based on the assumption that the heavier 13C atoms are not as reactive as 12C. The new formulations were calibrated using fractionated C, 13C and δ13 measurements from litterbags containing pine needles and woody material, which were left to decompose in natural environment for 4 years. The introduced model modifications considerably improve the model behaviour in a 100-year-long simulation, where modelled δ13 is compared against fractionated peat column carbon content. The work presented here is a proof of concept and enables 13C to be used as a natural tracer to detect changes in the underlying soil organic matter decomposition.

Details

Title
Implementation and initial calibration of carbon-13 soil organic matter decomposition in the Yasso model
Author
Mäkelä, Jarmo 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Arppe, Laura 2 ; Fritze, Hannu 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Heinonsalo, Jussi 4   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Karhu, Kristiina 5 ; Liski, Jari 1 ; Oinonen, Markku 2 ; Straková, Petra 6 ; Viskari, Toni 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

 Finnish Meteorological Institute, P.O. Box 503, 00101 Helsinki, Finland 
 Finnish Museum of Natural History (LUOMUS), University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 64, 00014 Helsinki, Finland 
 Natural Resources Institute Finland, P.O. Box 18, 01301, Vantaa, Finland 
 Department of Microbiology and Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research (INAR), Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 56, 00014 Helsinki, Finland 
 Department of Forest Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 56, 00014 Helsinki, Finland 
 Natural Resources Institute Finland, P.O. Box 2, 00791 Helsinki, Finland 
Pages
4305-4313
Publication year
2022
Publication date
2022
Publisher
Copernicus GmbH
ISSN
17264170
e-ISSN
17264189
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2711786816
Copyright
© 2022. This work is published under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.