Decomposability of soil organic matter over time

The Soil Incubation Database (SIDb, version 1.0) and guidance for incubation procedures

authored by

Christina Schädel, Jeffrey Beem-Miller, Mina Azizi Rad, Susan E. Crow, Caitlin E. Hicks Pries, Jessica Ernakovich, Alison M. Hoyt, Alain Plante, Shane Stoner, Claire C. Treat, Carlos A. Sierra

Abstract

The magnitude of carbon (C) loss to the atmosphere via microbial decomposition is a function of the amount of C stored in soils, the quality of the organic matter, and physical, chemical, and biological factors that comprise the environment for decomposition. The decomposability of C is commonly assessed by laboratory soil incubation studies that measure greenhouse gases mineralized from soils under controlled conditions. Here, we introduce the Soil Incubation Database (SIDb) version 1.0, a compilation of time series data from incubations, structured into a new, publicly available, open-access database of C flux (carbon dioxide, <span classCombining double low line"inline-formula">CO2</span>, or methane, <span classCombining double low line"inline-formula">CH4</span>). In addition, the SIDb project also provides a platform for the development of tools for reading and analysis of incubation data as well as documentation for future use and development. In addition to introducing SIDb, we provide reporting guidance for database entry and the required variables that incubation studies need at minimum to be included in SIDb. A key application of this synthesis effort is to better characterize soil C processes in Earth system models, which will in turn reduce our uncertainty in predicting the response of soil C decomposition to a changing climate. We demonstrate a framework to fit curves to a number of incubation studies from diverse ecosystems, depths, and organic matter content using a built-in model development module that integrates SIDb with the existing SoilR package to estimate soil C pools from time series data. The database will help bridge the gap between point location measurements, which are commonly used in incubation studies, and global remote-sensed data or data products derived from models aimed at assessing global-scale rates of decomposition and C turnover. The SIDb version 1.0 is archived and publicly available at <a hrefCombining double low line"https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3871263">https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3871263</a> (Sierra et al., 2020), and the database is managed under a version-controlled system and centrally stored in GitHub (<span classCombining double low line"uri">https://github.com/SoilBGC-Datashare/sidb</span>, last access: 26 June 2020)..

Organisation(s)

Institute of Soil Science

External Organisation(s)

Northern Arizona University
Max Planck Institute of Biogeochemistry (MPI-BGC)
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Dartmouth College
University of New Hampshire
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
University of Pennsylvania
Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research

Type

Article

Journal

Earth system science data

Volume

12

Pages

1511-1524

No. of pages

14

ISSN

1866-3508

Publication date

07.07.2020

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Earth and Planetary Sciences

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 13 - Climate Action

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-1511-2020 (Access: Open)