Subsoil Carbon Stocks and Vulnerability to Land Use Change Across a Network of Seven Experimental Sites in the US Northern Lake States

In this study, we report the depth distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC) and soil inorganic carbon (SIC) at experimental sites in the Northern Lake States (Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota) spanning a range of textural and geochemical environments. We also determined the vulnerability of SOC and SIC to the disturbance caused land-use change (conversion of old fields to short-rotation woody crop plantations). The experimental network consists of seven bioenergy plantations established in 2009-2010 in idled grass fields using herbicide and tillage. These study sites exhibit differences in soil texture (controlled largely by the type of glacial overlay) and geochemistry (controlled by the regional lithology including shale, basalt, limestone, sandstone and calcareous sandstone), providing the opportunity to gain insight into regional physical and chemical determinants of soil C storage. We conducted intensive soil sampling campaigns to a depth of 1 m prior to land conversion and at 4 years post-disturbance, to determine the depth profile and response of soil C storage as a function of land use and regional edaphic attributes. The proportion of subsoil SOC (stored at a depth greater than 25 cm) ranged from 33 to 50% of whole-profile SOC (to 1 m) prior to land conversion. Soils developed from calcareous parent materials also had significant SIC stocks despite the humid climate promoting carbonate weathering. The SIC stocks made up to half of the total soil C to a depth of 1 m. Measurable carbonates occurred throughout the profile, possibly due to upwards biological translocation mechanisms, but were most abundant at depths greater than 50 cm. Preliminary analyses indicate that SOC decreased in the topsoil following land-use change. These topsoil losses were offset by subsoil gains at sites with reactive mineralogy. The SIC stocks showed re-distribution following disturbance and were likely subject to accelerated weathering. Taken together, these results indicate that the subsoil C pool is substantial and reactive, and point to the control of regional geochemistry on the response of soil C storage following disturbance.