Open AccessCarbon concentration predicts soil contamination of plant residues
Author(s) -
Franzluebbers Alan J.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
agricultural and environmental letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.681
H-Index - 12
ISSN - 2471-9625
DOI - 10.1002/ael2.20037
Subject(s) - contamination , environmental science , biomass (ecology) , forage , soil test , perennial plant , organic matter , agronomy , soil carbon , environmental chemistry , soil science , soil water , chemistry , ecology , biology , organic chemistry
Dry matter estimations of field‐harvested plant materials can be complicated by varying degrees of soil contamination. A quick and simple method of screening materials for potential soil contamination would avoid unnecessary analyses. Harvested forage biomass and soil‐surface crop residues were collected from cool‐season perennial pastures, a silvopasture, and no‐tillage cropland to determine ash concentration. Samples were also analyzed for total carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) concentrations as part of routine plant analysis. When assessing ash and C concentrations along a gradient of soil contamination among 260 samples, a common regression was developed that had <1% coefficient of variation [Ash (g kg −1 ) = 999 − 1.89 × C (g kg −1 ), r 2 = .99, p < .001]. This association was consistent with available data in the literature, which also showed a negative relationship between ash and C concentrations of organically derived materials. Soil contamination of plant biomass and surface residues can be effectively estimated with this regression approach, allowing for more accurate organic matter estimates.