10.5061/DRYAD.V6WWPZGRX
Wilsey, Brian J.
0000-0002-0628-5006
Iowa State University
Xu, Xia
Iowa State University
Polley, H. Wayne
United States Department of Agriculture
Hofmockel, Kirsten
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Hall, Steven J.
Iowa State University
Lower soil carbon stocks in exotic vs. native grasslands are driven by
carbonate losses
Dryad
dataset
2020
novel ecosystems
prairie
inorganic carbon
organic carbon
C4 grasses
2021-02-24T00:00:00Z
2020-03-09T00:00:00Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3039
72593 bytes
3
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Global change includes invasion by exotic (non-native) plant species and
altered precipitation patterns, and these factors may affect terrestrial
carbon (C) storage. We measured soil C changes in experimental mixtures of
all exotic or all native grassland plant species under two levels of
summer drought stress (0 and +128 mm). After eight years, soils were
sampled in 10 cm increments to 100 cm depth to determine if soil C
differed among treatments in deeper soils. Total soil C (organic +
inorganic) content was significantly higher under native than exotic
plantings, and differences increased with depth. Surprisingly, differences
after eight years in C were due to carbonate and not organic C fractions,
where carbonate was ~ 250 g C m-2 lower to 1 m soil depth under exotic
than native plantings. Our results indicate that soil carbonate is an
active pool and can respond to differences in plant species traits over
timescales of years. Significant losses of inorganic C might be avoided by
conserving native grasslands in sub-humid ecosystems.