Grassland carbon pool

Fig. 11-12 Detrital carbon dynamics for the 0-20 cm layer of chernozem grassland soil. Carbon pools (kg C/ m ) and annual transfers (kg C/m per year) are indicated. Total profile content down to 20 cm is 10.4 kg C/m. (Reproduced with permission from W. H. Schlesinger (1977). Carbon balance in terrestrial detritus, Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 8,51-81, Annual Reviews, Inc.)...

Humus is a type of organic matter in terrestrial ecosystems that is not readily decomposed and therefore makes up the carbon reservoir with a long turnover time (300-1000 years). Schlesinger (1977) presented an assessment of the various carbon pools for a temperate grassland soil (Figure 11). 

Figure 11. Detrital carbon dynamicsfor the 0-20 cm layer ofchemozem grassland soil. Carbon pool (kgC/rrP ) and annual transfers (t is 10.4 kg C/rrr (Schlesinger, 1997).

TABLE 2 Contrasts in Aboveground Net Primary Production (ANPP), Soil Physical Properties, Organic Carbon and Total Nitrogen Pools (0- to 10-cni depth), and Fluxes in Soils Associated with Woody Plant and Grazed Grassland Communities in a Sandy Loam Upland Landscape at the La Copita Research Area in Southern Texas... 

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