Continental-scale controls on soil organic carbon across sub-Saharan Africa
Soil organic carbon (SOC) stabilization and destabilization has been studied intensively. Yet, the factors which control SOC content across scales remain unclear. Earlier studies demonstrated that soil texture and geochemistry strongly affect SOC content. However, those findings primarily rely on da...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | Inglés |
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Copernicus GmbH
2021
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/114212 |
| _version_ | 1855534942804508672 |
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| author | Fromm, S.F. von Hoyt, A. M. Lange, M. Acquah, G. E. Aynekulu, E. Berhe, A. A. Haefele, S. M. McGrath, S. P. Shepherd, Keith D. Sila, A. M. Six, Johan Towett, Erick K. Trumbore, S. E. Vågen, Tor-Gunnar Weullow, E. Winowiecki, Leigh Ann Doetterl, S. |
| author_browse | Acquah, G. E. Aynekulu, E. Berhe, A. A. Doetterl, S. Fromm, S.F. von Haefele, S. M. Hoyt, A. M. Lange, M. McGrath, S. P. Shepherd, Keith D. Sila, A. M. Six, Johan Towett, Erick K. Trumbore, S. E. Vågen, Tor-Gunnar Weullow, E. Winowiecki, Leigh Ann |
| author_facet | Fromm, S.F. von Hoyt, A. M. Lange, M. Acquah, G. E. Aynekulu, E. Berhe, A. A. Haefele, S. M. McGrath, S. P. Shepherd, Keith D. Sila, A. M. Six, Johan Towett, Erick K. Trumbore, S. E. Vågen, Tor-Gunnar Weullow, E. Winowiecki, Leigh Ann Doetterl, S. |
| author_sort | Fromm, S.F. von |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Soil organic carbon (SOC) stabilization and destabilization has been studied intensively. Yet, the factors which control SOC content across scales remain unclear. Earlier studies demonstrated that soil texture and geochemistry strongly affect SOC content. However, those findings primarily rely on data from temperate regions where soil mineralogy, weathering status and climatic conditions generally differ from tropical and subtropical regions. We investigated soil properties and climate variables influencing SOC concentrations across sub-Saharan Africa. A total of 1601 samples were analyzed, collected from two depths (0–20 and 20–50 cm) from 17 countries as part of the Africa Soil Information Service project (AfSIS). The data set spans arid to humid climates and includes soils with a wide range of pH values, weathering status, soil texture, exchangeable cations, extractable metals and land cover types. The most important SOC predictors were identified by linear mixed-effects models, regression trees and random forest models. Our results indicate that geochemical properties, mainly oxalate-extractable metals (Al and Fe) and exchangeable Ca, are equally important compared to climatic variables (mean annual temperature and aridity index). Together, they explain approximately two-thirds of SOC variation across sub-Saharan Africa. Oxalate-extractable metals were most important in wet regions with acidic and highly weathered soils, whereas exchangeable Ca was more important in alkaline and less weathered soils in drier regions. In contrast, land cover and soil texture were not significant SOC predictors on this large scale. Our findings indicate that key factors controlling SOC across sub-Saharan Africa are broadly similar to those in temperate regions, despite differences in soil development history. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace114212 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publishDateRange | 2021 |
| publishDateSort | 2021 |
| publisher | Copernicus GmbH |
| publisherStr | Copernicus GmbH |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1142122024-01-17T12:58:34Z Continental-scale controls on soil organic carbon across sub-Saharan Africa Fromm, S.F. von Hoyt, A. M. Lange, M. Acquah, G. E. Aynekulu, E. Berhe, A. A. Haefele, S. M. McGrath, S. P. Shepherd, Keith D. Sila, A. M. Six, Johan Towett, Erick K. Trumbore, S. E. Vågen, Tor-Gunnar Weullow, E. Winowiecki, Leigh Ann Doetterl, S. carbon soil organic carbon soil analysis environmental degradation Soil organic carbon (SOC) stabilization and destabilization has been studied intensively. Yet, the factors which control SOC content across scales remain unclear. Earlier studies demonstrated that soil texture and geochemistry strongly affect SOC content. However, those findings primarily rely on data from temperate regions where soil mineralogy, weathering status and climatic conditions generally differ from tropical and subtropical regions. We investigated soil properties and climate variables influencing SOC concentrations across sub-Saharan Africa. A total of 1601 samples were analyzed, collected from two depths (0–20 and 20–50 cm) from 17 countries as part of the Africa Soil Information Service project (AfSIS). The data set spans arid to humid climates and includes soils with a wide range of pH values, weathering status, soil texture, exchangeable cations, extractable metals and land cover types. The most important SOC predictors were identified by linear mixed-effects models, regression trees and random forest models. Our results indicate that geochemical properties, mainly oxalate-extractable metals (Al and Fe) and exchangeable Ca, are equally important compared to climatic variables (mean annual temperature and aridity index). Together, they explain approximately two-thirds of SOC variation across sub-Saharan Africa. Oxalate-extractable metals were most important in wet regions with acidic and highly weathered soils, whereas exchangeable Ca was more important in alkaline and less weathered soils in drier regions. In contrast, land cover and soil texture were not significant SOC predictors on this large scale. Our findings indicate that key factors controlling SOC across sub-Saharan Africa are broadly similar to those in temperate regions, despite differences in soil development history. 2021-06-29 2021-07-07T09:26:23Z 2021-07-07T09:26:23Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/114212 en Open Access application/pdf Copernicus GmbH von Fromm, S. F.; Hoyt, A. M.; Lange, M.; Acquah, G. E.; Aynekulu, E.; Berhe, A. A.; Haefele, S. M.; McGrath, S. P.; Shepherd, K. D.; Sila, A. M.; Six, J.; Towett, E. K.; Trumbore, S. E.; Vågen, T.-G.; Weullow, E.; Winowiecki, L. A.; Doetterl, S. 2021. Continental-scale controls on soil organic carbon across sub-Saharan Africa. SOIL. 7(1):305–332. https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-305-2021 |
| spellingShingle | carbon soil organic carbon soil analysis environmental degradation Fromm, S.F. von Hoyt, A. M. Lange, M. Acquah, G. E. Aynekulu, E. Berhe, A. A. Haefele, S. M. McGrath, S. P. Shepherd, Keith D. Sila, A. M. Six, Johan Towett, Erick K. Trumbore, S. E. Vågen, Tor-Gunnar Weullow, E. Winowiecki, Leigh Ann Doetterl, S. Continental-scale controls on soil organic carbon across sub-Saharan Africa |
| title | Continental-scale controls on soil organic carbon across sub-Saharan Africa |
| title_full | Continental-scale controls on soil organic carbon across sub-Saharan Africa |
| title_fullStr | Continental-scale controls on soil organic carbon across sub-Saharan Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Continental-scale controls on soil organic carbon across sub-Saharan Africa |
| title_short | Continental-scale controls on soil organic carbon across sub-Saharan Africa |
| title_sort | continental scale controls on soil organic carbon across sub saharan africa |
| topic | carbon soil organic carbon soil analysis environmental degradation |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/114212 |
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