PS 64-78
Soil organic carbon and total nitrogen storage in two restored tallgrass prairies at Emiquon in Illinois: The potential for C sequestration
Terrestrial ecosystems can play important roles in carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycle. The loss of prairies for croplands results in a release of significant amount of C from soil organic matter (SOM) into atmosphere. Prairie restoration from croplands has potential for C sequestration. The overall goal of this study was to quantify C and N storage of SOM of two restored tallgrass prairies at Emiquon in Illinois and explore the C sequestration potential of these two tallgrass restored prairies. Emiquon #18 site was restored in 2007 while Emiquon Fish and Wildlife (FW) site was restored in 2001. Soil samples were collected along a 60-m long transect of each site in summer of 2008. A CHN Elemental Analyzer (PerkinElmer 2440) was used to determine the SOM C and N concentration. In addition, SOM C and N concentration and soil bulk density data of 31 sites of native tallgrass prairies in Midwest (Fierer et al. 2013) were used to estimate soil C and N storage of these native tallgrass prairies.
Results/Conclusions
With the increase of restoration age, the average SOC storage of top 20 cm soils increased from 22.89 Mg/ha at Emiquon #18 site to 32.44 Mg/ha at Emiquon FW site. The average SOC storage of the top 20-40 cm soils increased from 16.5 Mg/ha at the younger restored prairie site to 34.88 Mg/ha at the older restored prairie site. Our study further indicated that the SOC storage and TN storage at top 20 cm soils on these native tallgrass prairies averaged at 85.82 Mg/ha and 7.15 Mg/ha, respectively, suggesting both restored tallgrass prairies have a great potential for C sequestration. Our study concluded that SOC storage and TN storage at restored tallgrass prairie at Emiquon increased with restoration age, and both sites show great potential for C sequestration in future.