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Abstract
Permanganate oxidizable C (POXC; i.e., active C) is a relatively new method that can quantify labile soil C rapidly and inexpensively. Despite limited reports of positive correlations with particulate organic C (POC), microbial biomass C (MBC), and other soil C fractions, little is known about what soil fractions POXC most closely reflects. We measured POXC across a wide range of soil types, ecosystems, and geographic areas (12 studies, 53 total sites, n = 1379) to: (i) determine the relationship between POXC and POC, MBC and soil organic C (SOC) fractions, and (ii) determine the relative sensitivity of POXC as a labile soil C metric across a range of environmental and management conditions. Permanganate oxidizable C was significantly related to POC, MBC, and SOC, and these relationships were strongest when data were analyzed by individual studies. Permanganate oxidizable C was more closely related to smaller-sized (53–250 μm) than larger POC fractions (250–2000 μm), and more closely related to heavier (>1.7 g cm−3) than lighter POC fractions, indicating that it reflects a relatively processed pool of labile soil C. Compared with POC, MBC, or SOC, POXC demonstrated greater sensitivity to changes in management or environmental variation in 42% of the significant experimental factors examined across the 12 studies. Our analysis demonstrates the usefulness of POXC in quickly and inexpensively assessing changes in the labile soil C pool.
Department
Soil Biogeochemistry and Microbial Ecology
Publication Date
3-1-2012
Journal Title
Soil Science Society of America Journal
Publisher
Wiley
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Document Type
Article
Recommended Citation
Culman, S.W., Snapp, S.S., Freeman, M.A., Schipanski, M.E., Beniston, J., Lal, R., Drinkwater, L.E., Franzluebbers, A.J., Glover, J.D., Grandy, A.S., Lee, J., Six, J., Maul, J.E., Mirsky, S.B., Spargo, J.T. and Wander, M.M. (2012), Permanganate Oxidizable Carbon Reflects a Processed Soil Fraction that is Sensitive to Management. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 76: 494-504. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj2011.0286
Rights
© 2012 The Authors.
Comments
This is an open access article published by Wiley in Soil Science Society of America Journal in 2012, available online: https://dx.doi.org/10.2136/sssaj2011.0286