Carbon Sequestration in Soils of the Wright State University Biology Preserve

Abstract

<p>Soil is an important reservoir in the global carbon cycle, containing an estimated 1 x 10"15 g C. However, soils vary considerably in the amount of carbon they store. We studied soils in the Wright State University Biology Preserve to determine how much carbon they contain. We sampled soil carbon at two depths: the upper 0-5 cm, and from 5-10 cm in depth. We used the dry ash method to determine the organic matter of soils, and used the conversion factor of 1.724 to convert organic matter to organic carbon, based on the assumption that organic matter contains 58% organic C. Samples from the old-growth forest soils contain an average of 1.07 g in the upper 0-5 cm, and 1.46 g in the 5-10 cm layer. If these values are representative, the upper 10 cm of soil in the 75 ha Biology Preserve contains 3.50 x 10"9 g of carbon, an amount equal to the emissions of 673 passenger cars each driving 12,500 miles per year (assume 5195 kg per car per year). Future work includes analysis of more samples, the spatial autocorrelation of soil carbon, and a comparison of old-growth soil carbon storage to post-agricultural secondary forest soil carbon storage.</p><p>This presentation occurred at the Wright State University Campus-Wide Celebration of Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities on April 8, 2011</p>