Assessing SOC labile fractions through respiration test, density-size fractionation and thermal analysis – A comparison of methods
Résumé
Soil organic matter (SOM) is the biggest terrestrial carbon reservoir, storing 3 to 4 times more carbon than the
atmosphere. However, despite its major importance for climate regulation SOM dynamics remains insufficiently
understood. For instance, there is still no widely accepted method to assess SOM lability.
Soil respiration tests and particulate organic matter (POM) obtained by different fractionation schemes have been
used for decades and are now considered as classical estimates of very labile and labile soil organic carbon (SOC),
respectively. But the pertinence of these methods to characterize SOM turnover can be questioned. Moreover, they
are very time-consuming and their reproducibility might be an issue. Alternate ways of determining the labile
SOC component are thus well-needed. Thermal analyses have been used to characterize SOM among which Rock-
Eval 6 (RE6) analysis of soil has shown promising results in the determination of SOM biogeochemical stability
(Gregorich et al., 2015; Barré et al., 2016).
Domaines
Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]
Origine : Fichiers produits par l'(les) auteur(s)