Soil Carbon Dynamics: An Integrated Methodology

Carbon stored in soils represents the largest terrestrial carbon pool and factors affecting this will be vital in the understanding of future atmospheric CO2 concentrations. This book provides an integrated view on measuring and modeling soil carbon dynamics. Based on a broad range of in-depth contributions by leading scientists it gives an overview of current research concepts, developments and outlooks and introduces cutting-edge methodologies, ranging from questions of appropriate measurement design to the potential application of stable isotopes and molecular tools. It includes a standardised soil CO2 efflux protocol, aimed at data consistency and inter-site comparability and thus underpins a regional and global understanding of soil carbon dynamics. This book provides an important reference work for students and scientists interested in many aspects of soil ecology and biogeochemical cycles, policy makers, carbon traders and others concerned with the global carbon cycle.

Table of Contents:
1. Soil carbon relations – an overview Werner L. Kutsch, Michael Bahn and Andreas Heinemeyer; 2. Field measurements of soil respiration: principles and constraints, potentials and limitations of different methods J. Pumpanen, B. Longdoz and Werner L. Kutsch; 3. Experimental design: scaling up in time and space, and its statistical considerations J.-A. Subke, A. Heinemeyer and M. Reichstein; 4. Determination of soil carbon stocks and changes Mirco Rodeghiero, Andreas Heinemeyer, Marion Schrumpf and Pat Bellamy; 5. Litter decomposition: concepts, methods and future perspectives M. Francesca Cotrufo, Ilaria Del Galdo and Daniela Piermatteo; 6. Characterization of soil organic matter Karolien Denef, Alain F. Plante and Johan Six; 7. Respiration from roots and the mycorrhizosphere Fernando E. Moyano, Owen K. Atkin, Michael Bahn, Dan Bruhn, Andrew J. Burton, Andreas Heinemeyer, Werner L. Kutsch and Gerhard Wieser; 8. Separating autotrophic and heterotrophic components of soil respiration: lessons learned from trenching and related root exclusion experiments Daniel Epron; 9. Measuring soil microbial parameters relevant for soil carbon fluxes Werner L. Kutsch, Joshua Schimel and Karolien Denef; 10. Trophic interactions and their implications for soil C fluxes Edward Ayres, Diana H. Wall and Richard D. Bardgett; 11. Semi-empirical modelling of the response of soil respiration to environmental factors in laboratory and field conditions; 12. Modelling soil carbon dynamics Pete Falloon and Pete Smith; 13. The role of soils in the Kyoto Protocol Pete Smith, Pete Falloon and Werner L. Kutsch; 14. Synthesis: emerging issues and challenges for an integrated understanding of soil carbon fluxes M. Bahn, W. L. Kutsch and A. Heinemeyer; 15. Towards a standardised protocol for the measurement of soil CO2 efflux M. Bahn, W. Kutsch, A. Heinemeyer and I. A. Janssens.

About the Author :
Werner L. Kutsch coordinates the ecosystem fluxes group at the Max-Planck-Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany. He has been awarded the Horst Wiehe Award 1994 by the Ecological Society of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (GfÖ) for an 'outstanding scientific work in the field of ecology'. His research interests lie in soil respiration, plant and microbial eco-physiology, dynamics of ecosystem fluxes, soil and ecosystem carbon balances in temperate and tropical ecosystems. Michael Bahn is senior scientist at the Institute of Ecology, University of Innsbruck, where he teaches ecosystem and plant ecology and ecophysiology. He has carried out research on plant resource utilization, functional biodiversity and ecosystem processes in numerous mountain ecosystems across Europe. For several years he has been particularly concerned with understanding abiotic and biotic controls on ecosystem and soil C fluxes and their components across a range of spatial and temporal scales, with a focus on global change and the plant-soil interface. Andreas Heinemeyer has been a soil scientist for more than 10 years, first at the University of Göttingen, Germany, and then at the University of York in 2002, where he continued to work as a research associate within the UK Centre for Terrestrial Carbon Dynamics. His research focus is on relating soil carbon stocks and fluxes to climate with a particular focus on the mycorrhizal symbioses, linking plant carbon supply to soil respiration. He was the first to have continuously measured mycorrhizal soil carbon fluxes in the field and is increasingly involved in plant-soil carbon flux model developments.