Sequential loss-on-ignition as a simple method for evaluating the stability of soil organic matter under actual environmental conditions

Sato, Yuhi*; Ishizuka, Shigehiro*; Hiradate, Shuntaro*; Atarashi-Andoh, Mariko; Nagano, Hirohiko*; Koarashi, Jun

Environmental Research, 239(Part 1), p.117224_1 - 117224_9, 2023/12

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2023.117224

The stability of soil organic matter (SOM) is important for improving our understanding of the global carbon cycle and ongoing climate change. This study examined the applicability of loss-on-ignition of soil with a stepwise increase in temperature (SIT-LOI) to evaluate the stability of the SOM using soil samples from Japan having different organic matter (OM) and mineral contents and different mean residence times (MRTs), estimated from radiocarbon analysis, for SOM. As the result of this examination, SIT-LOI data was strongly correlated with MRTs. This clearly suggests that SIT-LOI can be an indicator evaluating the stability of SOM in actual environments.

Stable C and N isotope abundances in water-extractable organic matter from air-dried soils as potential indices of microbially utilized organic matter

Nagano, Hirohiko*; Atarashi-Andoh, Mariko; Tanaka, Sota*; Yomogida, Takumi; Kozai, Naofumi; Koarashi, Jun

Frontiers in Forests and Global Change (Internet), 6, p.1228053_1 - 1228053_9, 2023/00

https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2023.1228053

Expansion of agriculture in northern cold-climate regions; A Cross-sectoral perspective on opportunities and challenges

Unc, A.*; Altdorff, D.*; Abakumov, E.*; Adl, S.*; Baldursson, S.*; Bechtold, M.*; Cattani, D. J.*; Firbank, L. G.*; Grand, S.*; Gudjonsdottir, M.*; et al.

Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems (Internet), 5, p.663448_1 - 663448_11, 2021/07

https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2021.663448

Agriculture in the boreal and Arctic regions is perceived as marginal, low intensity and inadequate to satisfy the needs of local communities, but another perspective is that northern agriculture has untapped potential to increase the local supply of food and even contribute to the global food system. Policies across northern jurisdictions target the expansion and intensification of agriculture, contextualized for the diverse social settings and market foci in the north. However, the rapid pace of climate change means that traditional methods of adapting cropping systems and developing infrastructure and regulations for this region cannot keep up with climate change impacts. Moreover, the anticipated conversion of northern cold-climate natural lands to agriculture risks a loss of up to 76% of the carbon stored in vegetation and soils, leading to further environmental impacts. The sustainable development of northern agriculture requires local solutions supported by locally relevant policies. There is an obvious need for the rapid development of a transdisciplinary, cross-jurisdictional, long-term knowledge development, and dissemination program to best serve food needs and an agricultural economy in the boreal and Arctic regions while minimizing the risks to global climate, northern ecosystems and communities.

Effect of dry-wet cycles on carbon dioxide release from two different volcanic ash soils in a Japanese temperate forest

Nagano, Hirohiko; Atarashi-Andoh, Mariko; Koarashi, Jun

Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, 65(5), p.525 - 533, 2019/10

https://doi.org/10.1080/00380768.2019.1649976

In the present study, two volcanic ash soils (soil A and B) from a temperate broad-leaved forest in eastern Japan were incubated under repeated dry-wet cycles and continuously constant moisture conditions. The primary aims were to quantify the potential for enhancement of carbon dioxide (CO) release owing to increased water fluctuation and to examine differences in the responses of volcanic ash soils with different physicochemical properties. Soil B, rather than soil A, was a typical Andosol. During incubation at 20 C for 120 days with five dry-wet cycles, the CO release rate was measured periodically. Abundance of the stable carbon isotope in CO (C-CO) was measured to capture changes in the origin of decomposed soil organic matter (SOM) owing to the dry-wet cycles. The CO release rate under the dry-wet cycles was up to 49% higher than the values predicted from a parabolic relationship between CO release and water content during incubation under the continuously constant moisture condition. The magnitude of CO release enhancement was 2.7-fold higher in soil B relative to that in soil A. The C-CO value in the dry-wet cycles was enriched by 0.3-2.3% compared to that during incubation under the continuously constant moisture conditions, suggesting that the decomposition of old and/or well-metabolized SOM was enhanced by the dry-wet cycles. Thus, the present study suggests that Andosols, which have been believed to have a strong SOM stabilization ability, are vulnerable to dry-wet cycles. Then, increased water fluctuation in a future warmer world would have significant potential to stimulate CO release from soils.

Laboratory examination of greenhouse gaseous and microbial dynamics during thawing of frozen soil core collected from a black spruce forest in Interior Alaska

Nagano, Hirohiko; Kim, Y.*; Lee, B.-Y.*; Shigeta, Haruka*; Inubushi, Kazuyuki*

Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, 64(6), p.793 - 802, 2018/12

https://doi.org/10.1080/00380768.2018.1525267

In this study, we conducted an incubation experiment on a frozen soil core collected from a black spruce forest in Interior Alaska, in order to investigate potential changes in greenhouse gaseous (GHG) and microbial dynamics during thawing of frozen soil. The soil thawing is an important environmental process determining the annual GHG balance in the northern high-latitude ecosystem. A core spanning the ground surface to upper permafrost with a depth of 90 cm was vertically grouped into three layers (top, middle, and bottom layers). Then, 12 soil samples from 3 layers (i.e., 4 soil samples per layer) were incubated for 3 weeks, and net carbon dioxide (Co) and methane (CH) release/uptake rates were estimated. During the incubation, temperature was changed weekly from 0 to 5, then 10C. The net amounts of CO released by six of the eight soil samples from the top and middle layers were 1.5 to 19.2-fold greater at 5C than at 0C, while the release at 10C was reduced in the cases of three of these six soil samples. Net CH release was the greatest in bottom-layer soil samples incubated at 0C. Then, low but apparent CH release was observed in top and middle-layer soil samples incubated at 0C. At 5 and 10C, net CH release from bottom-layer soil samples was decreased. Then, net CH uptake was observed in the top and the middle-layer soil samples. Both net uptake and release of CH were reduced upon the addition of a chemical inhibitor (i.e., 2-bromoethane sulfonate) of anaerobic methanotrophic and methanogenic activity. The bacterial and archaeal community structures based on 16S rRNA amplicon analysis were changed along the depth, while they were less changed during thawing. Thus, it was found that soil GHG dynamics responded sensitively and variously to thawing, while there was less change in 16S rRNA-based microbial community structures during the thawing prog

Links between annual surface temperature variation and land cover heterogeneity for a boreal forest as characterized by continuous, fibre-optic DTS monitoring

Saito, Kazuyuki*; Iwahana, Go*; Ikawa, Hiroki*; Nagano, Hirohiko; Busey, R. C.*

Geoscientific Instrumentation, Methods and Data Systems, 7(3), p.223 - 234, 2018/07

https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-7-223-2018

A fibre-optic DTS (distributed temperature sensing) system using Raman-scattering optical time domain reflectometry was deployed to monitor a boreal forest research site in the interior of Alaska. Surface temperatures range between -40C in winter and 30C in summer at this site. In parallel experiments, a fibre-optic cable sensor system (multi-mode, GI50/125, dual core; 3.4mm), monitored at high resolution, (0.5m intervals at every 30min) ground surface temperatures across the landscape. In addition, a high-resolution vertical profile was acquired at one-metre height above the upper subsurface. The total cable ran 2.7km with about 2.0km monitoring a horizontal surface path. Sections of the cable sensor were deployed in vertical coil configurations (1.2m high) to measure temperature profiles from the ground up at 5mm intervals. Measurements were made continuously over a 2-year interval from October 2012 to October 2014. Vegetation at the site (Poker Flat Research Range) consists primarily of black spruce underlain by permafrost. Land cover types within the study area were classified into six descriptive categories: relict thermokarst lake, open moss, shrub, deciduous forest, sparse conifer forest, and dense conifer forest. The horizontal temperature data exhibited spatial and temporal changes within the observed diurnal and seasonal variations. Differences in snow pack evolution and insulation effects co-varied with the land cover types. The apparatus used to monitor vertical temperature profiles generated high-resolution (ca. 5mm) data for air column, snow cover, and ground surface. This research also identified several technical challenges in deploying and maintaining a DTS system under subarctic environments.

Laboratory examination of combined effects of temperature rising and increased water fluctuation on CO release from volcanic ash soils

Nagano, Hirohiko; Atarashi-Andoh, Mariko; Koarashi, Jun

no journal, , 

Global warming may increase seasonal fluctuation of soil water conditions. Soil temperature and water fundamentally affect soil CO release, a major carbon flux in terrestrial ecosystems. However, our understandings of soil CO release under the increased temperature and fluctuated water conditions are still insufficient to infer the feedback of terrestrial carbon cycling in future worlds. In the present study, we are conducting laboratory incubation experiments for examining the combined effects of temperature rising and soil water fluctuation on CO release from volcanic ash soils. We incubated volcanic ash soils under four combinatorial conditions of two temperatures (20 and 30C) and two water conditions (a continuously constant water and a fluctuated water conditions). The rate of CO release was periodically measured during the incubation. Then, the ratio of CO release at 20C to that at 30 C, namely Q10, was expressed as the temperature sensitivity of soil CO release. For the incubation at 20 C, soil CO release under the fluctuated water condition was up to 50% greater than that under the constant water condition. The excess of soil CO release under the fluctuated water condition was, however, reduced to less than 10% for the incubation at 30C. Thus, Q10 under the fluctuated water condition (1.3 to 1.5) was equivalent to or lower than that under the continuously constant water condition (around 1.5). These preliminary results offer the needs of modifying basal CO release extent and Q10 value for inferring the soil CO release under increased temperature and fluctuated water conditions. The experiments are still ongoing and results and further insights will be presented at the meeting.

Does spatially heterogeneous nitrogen deposition affect nitrogen and carbon dynamics in a decidous broad-leaved forest?

Katata, Genki*; Fukushima, Keitaro*; Koarashi, Jun; Yamaguchi, Takashi*; Watanabe, Makoto*; Nagano, Hirohiko; Nakayama, Masataka*; Tateno, Ryunosuke*

no journal, , 

no abstracts in English

Effect of dry-wet cycles on CO release from volcanic ash soils

Nagano, Hirohiko; Atarashi-Andoh, Mariko; Koarashi, Jun

no journal, , 

no abstracts in English

Studies on the soil carbon storage and its response to the climate change

Nagai, Haruyasu; Koarashi, Jun; Atarashi-Andoh, Mariko; Ota, Masakazu; Nagano, Hirohiko

no journal, , 

no abstracts in English