Premium
Changes in soil organic carbon in a mountainous French region, 1990–2004
Author(s) -
Saby N. P. A.,
Arrouays D.,
Antoni V.,
Lemercier B.,
Follain S.,
Walter C.,
Schvartz C.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
soil use and management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.709
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1475-2743
pISSN - 0266-0032
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-2743.2008.00159.x
Subject(s) - soil carbon , environmental science , grassland , total organic carbon , soil water , land use , soil test , soil science , physical geography , hydrology (agriculture) , geography , geology , environmental chemistry , agronomy , ecology , chemistry , geotechnical engineering , biology
This paper reports spatial and temporal changes at the regional level in soil organic carbon (SOC) using a soil‐test database. A total of 23 329 SOC test values recorded between 1990 and 2004 by certified commercial laboratories and collected in a mountainous French region (Franche‐Comté) were integrated in a database. Results show a strong trend in organic carbon content, mainly related to elevation. A large loss in SOC was observed over the survey period. This loss correlated with baseline SOC content with greater loss from soils with higher carbon content. This loss is likely to be due to both changes in land use from permanent grassland to cultivation and to an increase in temperature during the survey period. Our study demonstrates that past soil‐test results which were not originally intended for monitoring can provide an alternative method for detecting changes in SOC.