TY - JOUR

T1 - Dissolved organic sulphur in soil water under Pinus sylvestris L. and Fagus sylvatica L. stands in northeastern Bavaria, Germany - Variations with seasons and soil depth

AU - Kaiser, Klaus

AU - Guggenberger, Georg

N1 - Funding information: The study was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft joint research program ROSIG and the University of Bayreuth. H. Ciglasch, J. Dilling, A. Möller, S. Peter, U. Roth, and A. Wetzel assisted during the field and laboratory work. A part of the analyses was carried out by the Central Analytical Department of the Bayreuth Institute of Terrestrial Ecosystem Research. We are grateful to the staff of the Bavarian Forest Administration at Bayreuth and Betzenstein for the help during the selection of the sites and the support during the sampling. We thank L. Haumaier and M. Kahle for critically reading and improving the manuscript.

PY - 2005/2

Y1 - 2005/2

N2 - Organically bound species have been identified as prominent and mobile forms of nitrogen and phosphorus in soils. Since a large portion of sulphur (S) in soil is bonded to carbon (C) also dissolved organic S likely is a significant constituent in soil water. To investigate the role of dissolved organic forms in leaching and cycling of S in forest soils, we examined concentrations, fluxes, and chemical composition of organic S in forest floor leachates and in soil solutions of Rendzic Leptosols under 90-year-old European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) and Haplic Arenosols under 160-year-old Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) for 27 months. These soils are low in adsorbed SO4 2- and receive little atmospheric S depositions at present. The chemical composition of organic S was estimated by fractionation with XAD-8 and wet-chemical characterisation (HI reduction) of binding forms. Although not as prominent as the organic forms of other nutrient elements, organic S proved to be an important contributor to S dissolved in forest floor leachates and in mineral soil solutions. Dissolved organic matter contained on average 29% of total S in forest floor leachates at the pine site and 34% at the beech site. The largest portion of organic S occurred in the subsoil solutions under beech in summer and autumn (up to 53%). Mean concentrations of organic S peaked (up to 1.1 mg l-1) in summer after rainstorms that followed dry periods. Fluxes with forest floor leachates and at 90 cm soil depth were largest in autumn because of huge amounts of rainfall. Organic S contributed significantly to the fluxes of S in the subsoils under beech comprising on average 39% of total dissolved S at 90 cm depth. Organic S produced in the forest floor layers was mainly in the hydrophilic fraction of dissolved organic matter (62 ± 6% at the pine site, 85 ± 4% at the beech site). The major binding form of organic S in the hydrophobic fraction was C-bonded S while in the hydrophilic fraction ester sulphate S, possibly associated with carbohydrates, was more prominent. Since the hydrophobic fraction increased in summer and autumn, C-bonded S was of greater importance during that time of the year than in winter and spring. With depth, concentrations and composition of organic S (and also of C) hardly changed at the pine site because of little retention of dissolved organic matter, presumably because of the small sorption capability of that soil. At the beech where organic C showed a marked decrease with depth, only a slight decrease in organic S, exclusively from the hydrophobic fraction, was found indicating that organic S was mobile compared with organic C. This was probably due to the concentration of S in the hydrophilic fraction of dissolved organic matter. Because of being concentrated in the mobile hydrophilic fraction, ester sulphate S was more mobile in the soil under beech than C-bonded S.

AB - Organically bound species have been identified as prominent and mobile forms of nitrogen and phosphorus in soils. Since a large portion of sulphur (S) in soil is bonded to carbon (C) also dissolved organic S likely is a significant constituent in soil water. To investigate the role of dissolved organic forms in leaching and cycling of S in forest soils, we examined concentrations, fluxes, and chemical composition of organic S in forest floor leachates and in soil solutions of Rendzic Leptosols under 90-year-old European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) and Haplic Arenosols under 160-year-old Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) for 27 months. These soils are low in adsorbed SO4 2- and receive little atmospheric S depositions at present. The chemical composition of organic S was estimated by fractionation with XAD-8 and wet-chemical characterisation (HI reduction) of binding forms. Although not as prominent as the organic forms of other nutrient elements, organic S proved to be an important contributor to S dissolved in forest floor leachates and in mineral soil solutions. Dissolved organic matter contained on average 29% of total S in forest floor leachates at the pine site and 34% at the beech site. The largest portion of organic S occurred in the subsoil solutions under beech in summer and autumn (up to 53%). Mean concentrations of organic S peaked (up to 1.1 mg l-1) in summer after rainstorms that followed dry periods. Fluxes with forest floor leachates and at 90 cm soil depth were largest in autumn because of huge amounts of rainfall. Organic S contributed significantly to the fluxes of S in the subsoils under beech comprising on average 39% of total dissolved S at 90 cm depth. Organic S produced in the forest floor layers was mainly in the hydrophilic fraction of dissolved organic matter (62 ± 6% at the pine site, 85 ± 4% at the beech site). The major binding form of organic S in the hydrophobic fraction was C-bonded S while in the hydrophilic fraction ester sulphate S, possibly associated with carbohydrates, was more prominent. Since the hydrophobic fraction increased in summer and autumn, C-bonded S was of greater importance during that time of the year than in winter and spring. With depth, concentrations and composition of organic S (and also of C) hardly changed at the pine site because of little retention of dissolved organic matter, presumably because of the small sorption capability of that soil. At the beech where organic C showed a marked decrease with depth, only a slight decrease in organic S, exclusively from the hydrophobic fraction, was found indicating that organic S was mobile compared with organic C. This was probably due to the concentration of S in the hydrophilic fraction of dissolved organic matter. Because of being concentrated in the mobile hydrophilic fraction, ester sulphate S was more mobile in the soil under beech than C-bonded S.

KW - C-bonded sulphur

KW - Dissolved organic sulphur

KW - Ester sulphate sulphur

KW - Fluxes

KW - Seasonal variations

KW - XAD-8 fractionation

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=23944485966&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s10533-004-0155-5

DO - 10.1007/s10533-004-0155-5

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:23944485966

VL - 72

SP - 337

EP - 364

JO - BIOGEOCHEMISTRY

JF - BIOGEOCHEMISTRY

SN - 0168-2563

IS - 3

ER -