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Managers increasingly seek to increase forest soil carbon but long-term controls on soil organic matter (SOM) sources and stability are weakly understood. We used a 30-year detrital input/removal treatment experiment in a deciduous forest to evaluate the importance of root and leaf litter to SOM. Inputs were assessed by excluding roots and leaves (litter) or by doubling litter inputs. In mineral soil, %SOM differed only at 0–10 cm (p = 0.11), with concentrations in the no litter and no roots treatments of 26% and 9%, respectively, lower than the controls. Cessation of litter inputs had a stronger effect on SOM than cessation of root inputs, but root litter inputs may contribute stable SOM. Doubled litter increased mineral SOM.
Citation
Bowden RD, Simpson MJ, Saucedo NP, Brozell K, DiGiacomo J, and Lajtha K. 2024. Litter and root sources of soil organic matter in a temperate forest: Thirty years in the DIRT. Soil Science of America Journal Volume88, (3) May/June 2024: 593-601. https://doi.org/10.1002/saj2.20634