Origin and dynamics of soil organic matter and vegetation changes during the Holocene in a forest-savanna transition zone, Brazilian Amazon region

Datos Bibliográficos

ID8112418
AutoresLuiz Carlos Ruiz Pessenda (0000-0001-9119-8195, autor de correspondencia), R Boulet (IRD, Institute of Geosciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo SP, 01498-970, Brazil), Ramon Aravena (0000-0003-2582-3639), Vania Rosolen (0000-0002-3460-1133), E M Gouveia, S E M Gouveia, Adauto De Souza Ribeiro (0000-0002-6658-3179), Maxime Lamotte (0000-0003-4155-8441)
Año2001
Volumen11
Número2
Páginas250-254
Fecha de publicación2001-02-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaThe Holocene (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0959-6836 • E-ISSN: 1477-0911
EditorialSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1191/095968301668898509
OpenAlexW2122924070
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas32
Referencias citadas6

Carbon isotope data on soil organic matter (SOM) were collected along an ecosystem transect 90 m in length that includes a tropical forest on the plateau, a transitional forest-savanna and savanna in a depression. Total organic carbon data show a significant increase in carbon content from sites representing forest ecosystem to sites representing savanna ecosystem. It was hypothesized that carbon accumulation in the depression is controlled by flooding conditions that slow down carbon decomposition and in part by carbon transport from the upper part of the transect (the savanna and the transition forest-savanna areas) into the depressions by water during the rainy season. The origin of the carbon was confirmed by using soil 13 C analysis. The savanna sites located in the depression showed δ 13 C values between –19.5‰ and –22.5‰ indicating a mixture of C3 and C4 plants. The vegetation cover in the depression is predominantly C3 grasses with d 13 C values of about –27‰ and –26‰. In the site under savanna located at an elevation slightly higher, the d 13 C value was more enriched (–16‰) showing the predominance of C4 plants (d 13 C of –13.6‰). At the forest-savanna transition and in the forest ecosystem the d 13 C values were characteristic of C3 plants (–25‰ and –28.1‰). 14 C and 13 C data indicate that the organic matter of mixed origin has been deposited for at least the last 7000 years in the savanna depressions. The 13 C pattern observed in the soil organic matter profiles indicate a predominance of C3 plants in the early part of the Holocene. About 7000 to 4000 years ago, the data show the influence of C4 plants, indicating forest regression associated with a drier climate than at present. The more recent 13 C records suggest forest expansion, and the return to a climate similar to the present

Biology · Ecosystem · Isotopes of carbon · Organic matter · Soil carbon · Soil organic matter · Soil water · Total organic carbon · Transect · Vegetation (pathology · Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory · Environmental Science · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Isotope Analysis in Ecology · Ecology · Soil Science