Carbon Contents and Structural Characteristics of Organic Matter in Soils of a Climo-biosequence in the Main Range of Peninsular Malaysia

Authors

  • Amir Hossein Jafarzadeh-Haghighi Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor
  • Jusop Shamshuddin Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor
  • Jol Hamdan Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor
  • Norhazlin Zainuddin Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor
  • Ismail Roslan Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor

Keywords:

climate, climo-biosequence, FTIR spectroscopy, organic matter, vegetation

Abstract

Climate and vegetation are known to be the most important soil forming factors in determining carbon (C) contents and structural characteristics of organic matter (OM) in soils. Four representative soil profiles along a climo-biosequence in the Main Range of Peninsular Malaysia were investigated to determine the impacts of climate and vegetation on C contents and structural characteristics of OM. Soil samples from all genetic horizons were subjected to physical and chemical analyses. Structural characteristics of soil samples from selected horizons were analyzed by Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Soil organic carbon content to 1 m depth increased along the studied climo-biosequence, from 5.7 kg m-2 in Udult under hill dipterocarp forest to 8.9 kg m-2 in Humult under upper dipterocarp forest to 15.8 kg m-2 in Orthod under myrtaceous forest, reaching a maximum value of 49.6 kg m-2 in Saprist under ericaceous forest. FTIR spectra for the surface organic horizons showed an increase of aliphatic band (2920 cm-1) with increasing elevation from upper dipterocarp forest to ericaceous forest. The increase in aliphatic band with increasing elevation likely resulted from a selective preservation of aliphatic structures derived from original plants with high content of waxes. This study demonstrates that differences in C contents along the studied climo-biosequence are related to co-variation of climate and vegetation; however, vegetation, not climate, is the major driver of differences in structural characteristics of OM.

Author Biographies

Amir Hossein Jafarzadeh-Haghighi, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor

Department of Land Management, Faculty of Agriculture

Jusop Shamshuddin, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor

Department of Land Management, Faculty of Agriculture

Jol Hamdan, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor

Department of Land Management, Faculty of Agriculture

Norhazlin Zainuddin, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor

Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science

Ismail Roslan, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor

Department of Land Management, Faculty of Agriculture

References

Amelung W, Flach KW, Zech W, “Climatic effects on soil organic matter composition in the Great Plainsâ€, Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J, vol. 61, no. 1, pp. 115–123, 1997.

Burke IC, Yonker CM, Parton WJ, Cole CV, Flach K, Schimel DS, “Texture, climate, and cultivation effects on soil organic matter content in US grassland soilsâ€, Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J, vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 800–805, 1989.

Tsui CC, Tsai CC, Chen ZS, “Soil organic carbon stocks in relation to elevation gradients in volcanic ash soils of Taiwanâ€, Geoderma, vol. 209-210, pp. 119–127, 2013

Jenny H, Factors of Soil Formation: a System of Quantitative Pedology, McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New York, USA, 1941.

Dalmolin RSD, Gonçalves CN, Dick DP, Knicker H, Klamt E, Kögel-Knabner I, “Organic matter characteristics and distribution in Ferralsol profiles of a climosequence in southern Brazilâ€, Eur. J. Soil Sci, vol. 57, no. 5, pp. 644–654, 2006.

Jenny H, The Soil Resources: Origin and Behavior, Springer-Verlag, New York, USA, 1980.

Schaetzl R, Anderson S, Soils: Genesis and Geomorphology, Cambridge University Press, New York, USA, 2005.

Podwojewski P, Poulenard J, Nguyet ML, de Rouw A, Nguyen VT, Pham QH, Tran DT, “Climate and vegetation determine soil organic matter status in an alpine inner-tropical soil catena in the Fan Si Pan Mountain, Vietnamâ€, Catena, vol. 87, no. 2, pp. 226–239, 2011.

Dieleman WIJ, Venter M, Ramachandra A, Krockenberger AK, Bird MI, “Soil carbon stocks vary predictably with altitude in tropical forests : implications for soil carbon storageâ€, Geoderma, vol. 204-205, pp. 59–67, 2013.

Townsend AR, Vitousek PM, Trumbore SE, “Soil organic matter dynamics along gradients in temperature and land use on the island of Hawaiiâ€, Ecology, vol. 76, no. 3, pp. 721–733. 1995.

Garten Jr CT, Hanson PJ, “Measured forest soil C stocks and estimated turnover times along an elevation gradientâ€, Geoderma, vol. 136, no. 1-2, pp. 342–352, 2006.

Tsai CC, Chen ZS, Kao CI, Ottner F, Kao SJ, Zehetner F, “Pedogenic development of volcanic ash soils along a climosequence in Northern Taiwanâ€, Geoderma, vol. 156, no. 1-2, pp. 48–59, 2010.

Bracewell JM, Robertson GW, Tate KR, “Pyrolysis-gas chromatography studies on a climosequence of soils in tussock grasslands, New Zealandâ€, Geoderma, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 209–215, 1976.

Quideau SA, Chadwick OA, Benesi A, Graham RC, Anderson MA, “A direct link between forest vegetation type and soil organic matter compositionâ€, Geoderma, vol, 104, no. 1-2, pp. 41–60, 2001.

Faz Cano A, Mermut AR, Ortiz R, Benke MB, Chatson B, “13C CP/MAS-NMR spectra of organic matter as influenced by vegetation, climate, and soil characteristics in soils from Murcia, Spainâ€, Can. J. Soil Sci, vol. 82, pp. 403–411, 2002.

Djukic I, Zehetner F, Tatzber M, Gerzabek MH, “Soil organic-matter stocks and characteristics along an Alpine elevation gradientâ€, J. Plant Nutr. Soil Sci, vol. 173, no. 1, pp. 30–38, 2010.

Kögel-Knabner I, Zech W, Hatcher PG, “Chemical composition of the organic matter in forest soils: the humus layerâ€, J. Plant Nutr. Soil Sci, vol. 151, pp. 331–340, 1988.

Burgess PF, “Ecological factors in hill and mountain forests of the States of Malayaâ€, Malay. Nat. J, vol. 22, pp. 119–128, 1969.

Paramananthan S, Soil Genesis on Igneous and Metamorphic Rocks in Malaysia, DSc Thesis, State University of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium, 1977.

Whitmore TC, Burnham CP, “The altitudinal sequence of forests and soils on granite near Kuala Lumpurâ€, Malay. Nat. J, vol. 22, pp. 99–118, 1969.

Burnham CP, “Altitudinal changes in soils on granite in Malaysiaâ€, In Transactions of the 10th International Congress of Soil Science, pp. 290-295, 1974.

Dale WL, “The rainfall of Malaya, part 1. In: The Climate of West Malaysia and Singaporeâ€, Oxford University Press, Singapore, pp. 132-144, 1974.

Kumaran S, Hydrometeorology of Tropical Montane Rainforest of Gunung Brinchang, Pahang Darul Makmur, Malaysia, PhD Thesis, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia, 2008.

Cobbing EJ, Pitfield PEJ, Darbyshire DPF, Mallick DIJ, The Granites of the South-east Asian Tin Belt, British Geological Survey, London, United Kingdom, 1992.

Ghani AA, “Plutonism. In: Geology of Peninsular Malaysiaâ€, University of Malaya and Geological Society of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, pp. 211-232, 2009.

Soil Survey Division Staff, Soil Survey Manual, Soil Conservation Service, USDA handbook 18, Washington, DC, USA, 1993.

Munsell Color Company, Munsell soil color charts, Munsell Color, New Windsor, USA, 2000.

Blake GR, Hartge KH, “Bulk density. In: Methods of Soil Analysis, Part 1. Physical and Mineralogical Methodsâ€, American Society of Agronomy, Inc and Soil Science Society of America, Inc., Madison, USA, pp. 363-375, 1986.

Maynard DG, Curran MP, “Bulk density measurement in forest soils. In: Soil Sampling and Methods of Analysisâ€, CRC Press, Boca Raton, USA, pp. 863-869, 2008.

Soil Survey Staff, Keys to Soil Taxonomy, 11th ed, USDA and Natural Resources Conservation Service, Washington, DC, USA, 2010.

Gee GW, Bauder JW, “Particle-size analysis. In: Methods of Soil Analysis, Part 1. Physical and Mineralogical Methodsâ€, American Society of Agronomy, Inc and Soil Science Society of America, Inc., Madison, USA, pp. 383-409, 1986.

van Reeuwijk LP, Procedures for Soil Analysis, International Soil Reference and Information, Wageningen, Netherland, 2002.

Nelson DW, Sommers LE, “Total carbon, organic carbon, and organic matter. In: Methods of Soil Analysis, Part 2. Chemical and Microbiological Propertiesâ€, American Society of Agronomy, Inc and Soil Science Society of America, Inc., Mason, USA, pp. 539-577, 1982.

Bremner JM, Mulvaney CS, “Nitrogen-total. In: Methods of Soil Analysis, Part 2. Chemical and Microbiological Propertiesâ€, American Society of Agronomy, Inc and Soil Science Society of America, Inc., Madison, USA, pp. 595-624, 1982.

Thomas GW, “Exchangeable cations. In: Methods of Soil Analysis, Part 2. Chemical and Microbiological Propertiesâ€, American Society of Agronomy, Inc and Soil Science Society of America, Inc., Madison, USA, pp. 159-164, 1982.

Bertsch PM, Bloom PR, “Aluminum. In: Methods of Soil Analysis, Part 3. Chemical Methodsâ€, American Society of Agronomy, Inc and Soil Science Society of America, Inc., Madison, USA, pp. 517-550, 1996.

Bohn HL, McNeal BL, O’Connor GA, Soil Chemistry, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, USA, 2001.

Eswaran H, Van Den Berg E, Reich P, “Organic carbon in soils of the worldâ€, Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J, vol. 57, pp. 192–194, 1993.

Ãlvarez-Arteaga G, Krasilnikov P, García-Calderón NE, “Vertical distribution and soil organic matter composition in a montane cloud forest, Oaxaca, Mexicoâ€, Eur. J. For. Res, vol. 131, pp. 1643–1651, 2012.

Grieve IC, Proctor J, Cousins SA, “Soil variation with altitude on Volcan Barva, Costa Ricaâ€, Catena, vol. 17, pp. 525–534, 1990.

Ãlvarez-Arteaga G, García-Calderón NE, Krasilnikov PV, Sedov SN, Targulian VO, Rosas NV, “Soil altitudinal sequence on base-poor parent material in a montane cloud forest in Sierra Juárez, Southern Mexicoâ€, Geoderma, vol. 144, pp. 593-612, 2008.

Hobbie SE, Schimel JP, Trumbore SE, Randerson JR, “Controls over carbon storage and turnover in high-latitude soilsâ€, Glob. Chang. Biol, vol. 6, pp. 196–210, 2000.

Ellerbrock RH, Gerke HH, “Characterization of organic matter composition of soil and flow path surfaces based on physicochemical principles-a reviewâ€, Adv. Agron, vol. 121, pp. 117-177, 2013.

MacCarthy P, Rice JA, “Spectroscopic methods (other than NMR) for determining functionality of humic substances. In: Humic Substances in Soil, Sediment, and Water: Geochemistry, Isolation, and Characterizationâ€, Wiley-Interscience publication, New York, USA, pp. 527-561, 1985.

Senesi N, D’Orazio V, Ricca G, “Humic acids in the first generation of EUROSOILSâ€, Geoderma, vol. 116, no. 3-4, pp. 325–344, 2003.

Haberhauer G, Rafferty B, Strebl F, Gerzabek MH, “Comparison of the composition of forest soil litter derived from three different sites at various decompositional stages using FTIR spectroscopyâ€, Geoderma, vol. 83, pp. 331–342, 1998.

Tatzber M, Mutsch F, Mentler A, Leitgeb E, Englisch M, Zehetner F, Djukic I, Gerzabek MH, “Mid-infrared spectroscopy for topsoil layer identification according to litter type and decompositional stage demonstrated on a large sample set of Austrian forest soilsâ€, Geoderma, vol. 166, no. 1, pp. 162–170, 2011.

Stevenson FJ, Humus Chemistry: Genesis, Composition, Reactions, Wiley, New York, USA, 1994.

Duboc O, Zehetner F, Djukic I, Tatzber M, Berger TW, Gerzabek MH, “Decomposition of European beech and Black pine foliar litter along an Alpine elevation gradient: mass loss and molecular characteristicsâ€, Geoderma, vol. 189-190, pp. 522–531, 2012.

Rumpel C, Kögel-Knabner I, Bruhn F, “Vertical distribution, age, and chemical composition of organic carbon in two forest soils of different pedogenesisâ€, Org. Geochem, vol. 33, pp. 1131–1142, 2002.

Baldock JA, Oades JM, Waters AG, Peng X, Vassallo AM, Wilson MA, "Aspects of the chemical structure of soil organic materials as revealed by solid-state 13C NMR spectroscopy", Biogeochemistry, vol. 16, pp. 1–42, 1992.

Downloads

Published

2015-10-27

How to Cite

Jafarzadeh-Haghighi, A. H., Shamshuddin, J., Hamdan, J., Zainuddin, N., & Roslan, I. (2015). Carbon Contents and Structural Characteristics of Organic Matter in Soils of a Climo-biosequence in the Main Range of Peninsular Malaysia. Asian Journal of Agriculture and Food Sciences, 3(5). Retrieved from https://ajouronline.com/index.php/AJAFS/article/view/3242

Most read articles by the same author(s)