Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Engineering Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Syracuse University

Soil carbon

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Effects Of Calcium Silicate Treatment On The Composition Of Forest Floor Organic Matter In A Northern Hardwood Forest Stand, Ankit Balaria, Chris E. Johnson, Peter M. Groffman, Melany C. Fisk Oct 2014

Effects Of Calcium Silicate Treatment On The Composition Of Forest Floor Organic Matter In A Northern Hardwood Forest Stand, Ankit Balaria, Chris E. Johnson, Peter M. Groffman, Melany C. Fisk

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Calcium amendment can help improve forest sustainability in stands that have been impacted by chronic acid deposition. An important component of this improvement is the stimulation of the microbial activity that supports ecosystem nutrient cycling processes. To test the hypothesis that Ca treatment alters the structure and solubility of organic matter substrates, an important driver of microbial activity, we investigated the effect of wollastonite (CaSiO3) treatment on soil organic matter (SOM) and hot-water-extractable organic matter (HWEOM). We found a decrease in the HWEOM content of forest floor soils within two years of treatment with a high dosage of …


Effects Of Calcium Treatment On Forest Floor Organic Matter Composition Along An Elevation Gradient, Ankit Balaria, Chris E. Johnson, Peter M. Groffman Apr 2014

Effects Of Calcium Treatment On Forest Floor Organic Matter Composition Along An Elevation Gradient, Ankit Balaria, Chris E. Johnson, Peter M. Groffman

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Calcium amendment is a restorative option for nutrient-depleted, acidic soils in the forests of the northeastern United States. We studied the effects of watershed-scale wollastonite (CaSiO3) application on the structural composition of soil organic matter (SOM) and hot-water extractable organic matter (HWEOM) at the Hubbard Brook Experiment Forest in New Hampshire 7-9 years after treatment, along an elevation gradient. Soils in the high-elevation spruce/fir/birch (SFB) zone contained significantly greater amounts of HWEOM compared to lower elevation hardwood soils, likely due to differences in litter quality and slower decomposition rates in colder soils at higher elevation. The only significant …


Soil Mercury And Its Response To Atmospheric Mercury Deposition Across The Northeastern United States, Xue Yu, Charles T. Driscoll, Richard A. F. Warby, Mario Montesdeoca, Chris E. Johnson Oct 2013

Soil Mercury And Its Response To Atmospheric Mercury Deposition Across The Northeastern United States, Xue Yu, Charles T. Driscoll, Richard A. F. Warby, Mario Montesdeoca, Chris E. Johnson

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Terrestrial soil is a large reservoir of atmospherically deposited mercury (Hg). However, few studies have evaluated the accumulation of Hg in terrestrial ecosystems in the northeastern United States, a region which is sensitive to atmospheric Hg deposition. We characterized Hg and organic matter in soil profiles from 139 sampling sites for five subregions across the northeastern United States and estimated atmospheric Hg deposition to these sites by combining numerical modeling with experimental data from the literature. We did not observe any significant relationships between current net atmospheric Hg deposition and soil Hg concentrations or pools, even though soils are a …