14C Measurements of Soil Organic Matter, Soil CO2 and Dissolved Organic Carbon (1987-1992)

Abstract

For several undisturbed sites in Germany, 14C data are reported for soil organic matter (SOM) (4 sites), soil CO2 (10 sites) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) (1 site). With the assumption of a fast degradable component (lifetime ca. 1 yr) and a slow degradable component (lifetime ca. 100 yr), a range between 0.6 and 1.6 mm yr-1 has been determined for the downward migration rates of soil organic carbon at the sampling sites from the soil 14C data. The soil CO2 measurements show that in deciduous forests the fast degradable component is ca. 60% and the slow degradable component is ca. 40% of the SOM. In coniferous forests this ratio is reversed. The 14C results for DOC could not be explained with the assumption of a first-order decay process. The removal of soil organic carbon by DOC is of minor importance for the estimation of carbon budgets for the investigated site.