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Organic matter distribution and retention along transects from hilltop to kettle hole within an agricultural landscape

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Abstract

In agricultural landscapes, the spatio-temporal distribution of organic matter (OM) varies greatly across landscape structures and soil types. We investigated patterns of organic carbon (OC) content, polyvalent cations, and isotopic values for specific OM fractions along transects spanning topographic positions from erosional to depositional areas, including aquatic sediments within a single kettle hole. We hypothesized different drivers exist at different scales. At the transect scale, we hypothesized (1) landscape form and land management to explain patterns of isotopic and OC content from different OM fractions. At the aggregate scale, (2) we expected different OM-mineral associations to explain stabilized OM. We also hypothesized, (3) that shallow sediment δ13C and δ15N of the kettle hole reflected different terrestrial sources. We found that distinct differences in the OM turnover rates existed between the fractions suggesting that different processes are affecting the transformation rates that are recorded in the isotopic composition patterns. Erosion along with plant productivity drive mineral-associated fractions over the transect, while microbial decomposition and slurry influence freely available and aggregated OM fractions. The type and magnitude of OM-mineral associations changed along the transect while binding OM of different decomposition status. OM in mineral-associated fractions in kettle hole sediments were derived from clay- and silt-sized particles from the field, whereas OM in freely available and aggregated fractions potentially originated from macrophytes. We conclude that kettle holes constitute important sinks for terrestrial OM across the landscape.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Frau Remus, Dr. Sara Herrero Martín, and Ruben Yague for their help with the sample preparation and isotope analysis. We thank Kristina Holz and her team from the Central Laboratory at ZALF for measurements of the soil chemical characteristics as well as Michael Facklam from the Technische Universität Berlin for soil textural analysis. We also thank Renee Ende for support with OM fractionation. We kindly thank the LandScales team for their support and discussions. This research was funded through the Pact for Innovation and Research of the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz association (project LandScales—‘Connecting processes and structures driving landscape carbon dynamics over scales’). Finally, we thank two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments, which have improved this manuscript.

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  1. Kai Nils Nitzsche

    Present address: Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN), 457-4 Motoyama, Kamigamo, Kita-ku, Kyoto, 603-8047, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Institute of Landscape Biogeochemistry, Eberswalder Str. 84, 15374, Muencheberg, Germany

    Kai Nils Nitzsche, Katrin Premke, Arthur Gessler & Zachary Eric Kayler

  2. Department of Environmental Chemistry, University of Kassel, Nordbahnhofstr. 1a, 37213, Witzenhausen, Germany

    Michael Kaiser

  3. Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Chemical Analytic and Biogeochemistry, Mueggelseedamm 310, 12587, Berlin, Germany

    Katrin Premke

  4. Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Zuercherstrasse 111, 8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland

    Arthur Gessler

  5. Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research (BBIB), 14195, Berlin, Germany

    Arthur Gessler

  6. Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Institute of Soil Landscape Research, Eberswalder Str. 84, 15374, Muencheberg, Germany

    Ruth Heike Ellerbrock & Carsten Hoffmann

  7. Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Agricultural Landscape Data Centre, Eberswalder Str. 84, 15374, Muencheberg, Germany

    Carsten Hoffmann

  8. State Laboratory Berlin-Brandenburg, Department Geology, Soil, Waste, Stahnsdorfer Damm 77, 14532, Kleinmachnow, Germany

    Andreas Kleeberg

  9. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, Livermore, CA, 94550, USA

    Zachary Eric Kayler

  10. Department of Soil and Water Systems, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, 83843, USA

    Zachary Eric Kayler

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  1. Kai Nils Nitzsche
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Nitzsche, K.N., Kaiser, M., Premke, K. et al. Organic matter distribution and retention along transects from hilltop to kettle hole within an agricultural landscape. Biogeochemistry 136, 47–70 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-017-0380-3

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