2009 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Quantifying heterogeneity of soil organic matter dynamics using radiocarbon
| Project/Area Number |
20710016
|
|---|
| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
|
| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
|---|
| Research Field |
Environmental dynamic analysis
|
|---|
| Research Institution | Japan Atomic Energy Agency |
|---|
Principal Investigator |
KOARASHI Jun Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 原子力基礎工学研究部門, 研究員 (30421697)
|
|---|
| Project Period (FY) |
2008 – 2009
|
| Keywords | 土壌有機物(炭素)動態 |
|---|
| Research Abstract |
Global warming can lead to accelerated microbial decomposition of soil organic matter (SOM) and enhance the release of CO_2 from the soil to the atmosphere ; however, the magnitude and timing of this effect remain highly uncertain due to a lack of quantitative data concerning the heterogeneity of SOM biodegradability. We developed a method to quantitatively understand the SOM heterogeneity, which involved chemically-separating soil samples into SOM fractions, estimating their mean residence times (MRTs) based on radiocarbon isotope measurements, and using the data to construct a model representing the soil as a complex of SOM pools with different MRT ranges. Our prediction based on the quantitative understanding of the SOM heterogeneity demonstrated that warming can continue to accelerate soil carbon loss from slow-cycling carbon pools with MRTs of 20-200 years over the next century.
|
Research Products
(7 results)
