TY - JOUR
T1 - Use of Pyrolysis Molecular Beam Mass Spectroscopy (py-MBMS) to Characterize Forest Soil Carbon: Method and Preliminary Results
AU - Magrini, K. A.
AU - Evans, R. J.
AU - Hoover, C. M.
AU - Elam, C. C.
AU - Davis, M. F.
PY - 2002
Y1 - 2002
N2 - The components of soil organic matter (SOM) and their degradation dynamics in forest soils are difficult to study and thus poorly understood, due to time-consuming sample collection, preparation, and difficulty of analyzing and identifying major components. As a result, changes in soil organic matter chemical composition as a function of age, forest type, or disturbance have not been examined. We applied pyrolysis molecular beam mass spectrometry (py-MBMS), which provides rapid characterization of SOM of whole soil samples, to the Tionesta soil samples described by Hoover, C.M., Magrini, K.A., Evans, R.J., 2002. Soil carbon content and character in an old growth forest in northwestern Pennsylvania: a case study introducing molecular beam mass spectrometry (PY-MBMS). Environmental Pollution 116 (Supp.1), S269-S278. Our goals in this work were to: (1) develop and demonstrate an advanced, rapid analytical method for characterizing SOM components in whole soils, and (2) provide data-based models to predict soil carbon content and residence time from py-MBMS analysis. Using py-MBMS and pattern recognition techniques we were able to statistically distinguish among four Tionesta sites and show an increase in pyrolysis products of more highly decomposed plant materials at increasing sample depth. For example, all four sites showed increasing amounts of older carbon (phenolic and aromatic species) at deeper depths and higher amounts of more recent carbon (carbohydrates and lignin products) at shallower depths. These results indicate that this type of analysis could be used to rapidly characterize SOM for the purpose of developing a model, which could be used in monitoring the effect of forest management practices on carbon uptake and storage.
AB - The components of soil organic matter (SOM) and their degradation dynamics in forest soils are difficult to study and thus poorly understood, due to time-consuming sample collection, preparation, and difficulty of analyzing and identifying major components. As a result, changes in soil organic matter chemical composition as a function of age, forest type, or disturbance have not been examined. We applied pyrolysis molecular beam mass spectrometry (py-MBMS), which provides rapid characterization of SOM of whole soil samples, to the Tionesta soil samples described by Hoover, C.M., Magrini, K.A., Evans, R.J., 2002. Soil carbon content and character in an old growth forest in northwestern Pennsylvania: a case study introducing molecular beam mass spectrometry (PY-MBMS). Environmental Pollution 116 (Supp.1), S269-S278. Our goals in this work were to: (1) develop and demonstrate an advanced, rapid analytical method for characterizing SOM components in whole soils, and (2) provide data-based models to predict soil carbon content and residence time from py-MBMS analysis. Using py-MBMS and pattern recognition techniques we were able to statistically distinguish among four Tionesta sites and show an increase in pyrolysis products of more highly decomposed plant materials at increasing sample depth. For example, all four sites showed increasing amounts of older carbon (phenolic and aromatic species) at deeper depths and higher amounts of more recent carbon (carbohydrates and lignin products) at shallower depths. These results indicate that this type of analysis could be used to rapidly characterize SOM for the purpose of developing a model, which could be used in monitoring the effect of forest management practices on carbon uptake and storage.
KW - Disturbance
KW - Forest soils
KW - Pyrolysis mass spectroscopy
KW - Rapid soil analysis
KW - Soil organic carbon
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0036150035&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/S0269-7491(01)00257-3
DO - 10.1016/S0269-7491(01)00257-3
M3 - Article
C2 - 11833912
AN - SCOPUS:0036150035
SN - 0269-7491
VL - 116
SP - S255-S268
JO - Environmental Pollution
JF - Environmental Pollution
IS - SUPPL. 1
ER -