Soil Organic Carbon in Mid-Atlantic Region Forest Soils: Stocks and Vertical Distribution

Abstract

Over a period of 10 years, 418 forested plots within the US National Capital Region parks were visited for morphological descriptions and to inventory carbon (C) stocks. Samples were collected from organic horizons, the loose leaf litter, and, using a hand auger, from each mineral horizon to a depth of 1 m. Soil C concentration was determined using high-temperature combustion, and organic carbon (OC) stocks were then calculated for each master horizon. Soil bulk density (Db) was determined using the core method for O and A horizons. For deeper mineral horizons, a strong linear relationship between NRCS SSURGO representative values and measured Db values averaged according to soil series (R2 = 0.75) was observed. Thus, the NRCS SSURGO representative Db values were used for mineral horizons below the A horizon. An average of 0.5 ± 0.0 kg C m−2 was contained in the loose leaf litter. For plots with O horizons, the organic layer contained 2.9 ± 0.3 kg C m−2. An average of 4.6 ± 0.2 kg C m−2 was stored in the A horizon, down to an average lower boundary of 18.8 cm. The mineral horizons below the A horizon averaged 8.5 kg C m−2. In these forested soil profiles, 52.8% of the TOC is found below the A horizon and 18.0% of the TOC is in the organic horizons. The predictive strength of the thickness of and SOC in the A horizon was also evaluated in terms of explaining and predicting TOC in the profile and in the subsoil. The thickness and SOC in the A horizon explained 54% of the variation in TOC stock; however, it was a poor predictor of OC stored in the subsoil (R2 = 0.04). This study demonstrates the importance of deeper sampling to encompass more of the rooting depth when investigating SOC stocks.