Belowground allocation and dynamics of recently fixed plant carbon in a California annual grassland

Plant roots and the organisms that surround them are a primary source for stabilized soil organic carbon (SOC). While grassland soils have a large capacity to store organic carbon (C), few field-based studies have quantified the amount of plant-fixed C that moves into soil and persists belowground over multiple years. Yet this characteristic of the soil C cycle is critical to C storage, soil water holding capacity, nutrient provisions, and the management of soil health. We tracked the fate of plant-fixed C following a five-day (CO2)-C-13 labeling of a Northern California annual grassland, measuring C pools starting at the end of the labeling period, at three days, four weeks, six months, one year, and two years. Soil organic carbon was fractionated using a density-based approach to separate the free-light fraction (FLF), occluded-light fraction (OLF), and heavy fraction (HF). Using isotope ratio mass spectrometry, we measured C-13 enrichment and total C content for plant shoots, roots, soil, soil dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and the FLF, OLF, and HF. The chemical nature of C in the HF was further analyzed by solid state C-13 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy.At the end of the labeling period, a substantial portion of the C-13 (40%) was already found belowground in roots, soil, and soil DOC. By 4 weeks, the highest isotope enrichment and 27% of the total amount of C-13 remaining in the system was associated with the mineral-rich HF. At the 6-month sampling-after the dry summer period during which plants senesced and died-the amount of label in the FLF increased to an amount similar to that in the HF. The FLF C-13 then declined substantially by 1 year and further decreased in the second year. By the end of the 2-year experiment, 67% of remaining label was in the HF, with 19% in the FLF and 14% in the OLF. While the C-13 content in the HF was stable over the final year, the chemical forms associated with the HF evolved with time. The relative proportion of aliphatic/alkyl C functional groups declined in the newly formed SOC over the 2 years in the field; simultaneously, aromatic and carbonyl/carboxylic C functional groups increased and the proportion of carbohydrate (O-alkyl C) groups remained relatively constant.Our results indicate that plant-fixed C moved into soil within days of its fixation and was associated with the soil mineral fraction within weeks. While most of the annual plant C input in these grasslands cycles rapidly (< 2-year timescale), a sizeable proportion (about 23% of the C-13 present at day 0) persisted in the soil for longer than 2 years. While decadal studies would allow improved assessment of the long-term stabilization of newly fixed plant C, our 2-year field study reveals surprisingly rapid movement of plant C into the HF of soil, followed by subsequent evolution of the chemical forms of organic C in the HF.

Automated summary

Plant-fixed carbon moves into soil within days and becomes associated with the mineral fraction of the soil within weeks. While most plant carbon cycles rapidly within a year, a significant proportion persists in the soil for longer than 2 years. Our 2-year field study reveals the rapid movement of plant carbon into the heavy fraction of soil, followed by the evolution of the chemical forms of organic carbon in the heavy fraction.