Continental-scale measurements of soil pyrogenic carbon in Europe
Yamina Pressler
A * , Claudia M. Boot B , Samuel Abiven C D , Emanuele Lugato E and M. Francesca Cotrufo F
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences Department, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407, USA.
B Department of Chemistry, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80521, USA.
C Laboratoire de Géologie, UMR 8538, Ecole Normale Supérieure, CNRS, PSL Research University, Paris, France.
D Centre de Recherche en Ecologie Expérimentale et Prédictive (CEREEP-Ecotron Ile de France), Département de Biologie, Ecole Normale Supérieure, CNRS, PSL Research University, Paris, France.
E European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Ispra (VA), Italy.
F Soil and Crop Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80521, USA.
Soil Research 60(2) 103-113 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR19396
Submitted: 20 October 2020 Accepted: 24 August 2021 Published: 4 January 2022
© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing
Abstract
Pyrogenic carbon (PyC), the product of incomplete biomass combustion, is a key component of soil organic carbon (SOC) because it can persist in soils for centuries to millennia. Quantifying PyC across large spatial scales remains a significant challenge in constraining the global carbon cycle. We measured PyC in topsoils across Europe using molecular marker (benzene polycarboxylic acids, BPCA) and spectroscopic techniques (Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform Spectroscopy, DRIFTS). We developed a calibration between BPCA and DRIFTS, but the calibration was less reliable (Y-variance explained = 0.62) than previous reports due to low soil PyC content and heterogeneity of soil matrices. Thus, we performed multiple regressions to identify drivers of PyC distribution using only the measured BPCA data. PyC content varied widely among soils, contributing 0–24% of SOC. Organic carbon was the strongest predictor of soil PyC content, but mean annual temperature, clay, and cation exchange capacity also emerged as predictors. PyC contributes a smaller proportion of SOC in European soils compared to other geographic regions. Comparing soil PyC measurements to PyC production rates in high latitude and Mediterranean regions suggests that transport, degradation, and recombustion are important mechanisms regulating soil PyC accumulation.
Keywords: benzene polycarboxylic acids, black carbon, carbon cycling, European soils, mid-infrared spectroscopy, pyrogenic carbon, soil organic carbon, soil organic matter.
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