Articles | Volume 12, issue 19
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-5831-2015
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-5831-2015
Research article
 | 
13 Oct 2015
Research article |  | 13 Oct 2015

Soil fertility controls soil–atmosphere carbon dioxide and methane fluxes in a tropical landscape converted from lowland forest to rubber and oil palm plantations

E. Hassler, M. D. Corre, A. Tjoa, M. Damris, S. R. Utami, and E. Veldkamp

Abstract. Expansion of palm oil and rubber production, for which global demand is increasing, causes rapid deforestation in Sumatra, Indonesia, and is expected to continue in the next decades. Our study aimed to (1) quantify changes in soil CO2 and CH4 fluxes with land-use change and (2) determine their controlling factors. In Jambi Province, Sumatra, we selected two landscapes on heavily weathered soils that differ mainly in texture: loam and clay Acrisol soils. In each landscape, we investigated the reference land-use types (forest and secondary forest with regenerating rubber) and the converted land-use types (rubber, 7–17 years old, and oil palm plantations, 9–16 years old). We measured soil CO2 and CH4 fluxes monthly from December 2012 to December 2013. Annual soil CO2 fluxes from the reference land-use types were correlated with soil fertility: low extractable phosphorus (P) coincided with high annual CO2 fluxes from the loam Acrisol soil that had lower fertility than the clay Acrisol soil (P < 0.05). Soil CO2 fluxes from the oil palm (107.2 to 115.7 mg C m−2 h−1) decreased compared to the other land-use types (between 178.7 and 195.9 mg C m−2 h−1; P < 0.01). Across land-use types, annual CO2 fluxes were positively correlated with soil organic carbon (C) and negatively correlated with 15N signatures, extractable P and base saturation. This suggests that the reduced soil CO2 fluxes from oil palm were the result of strongly decomposed soil organic matter and reduced soil C stocks due to reduced litter input as well as being due to a possible reduction in C allocation to roots due to improved soil fertility from liming and P fertilization in these plantations. Soil CH4 uptake in the reference land-use types was negatively correlated with net nitrogen (N) mineralization and soil mineral N, suggesting N limitation of CH4 uptake, and positively correlated with exchangeable aluminum (Al), indicating a decrease in methanotrophic activity at high Al saturation. Reduction in soil CH4 uptake in the converted land-use types (ranging from −3.0 to −14.9 μg C m−2 h−1) compared to the reference land-use types (ranging from −20.8 to −40.3 μg C m−2 h−1; P < 0.01) was due to a decrease in soil N availability in the converted land-use types. Our study shows for the first time that differences in soil fertility control the soil–atmosphere exchange of CO2 and CH4 in a tropical landscape, a mechanism that we were able to detect by conducting this study on the landscape scale.

Download
Short summary
We found that in Indonesia, oil palm displayed reduced soil CO2 fluxes compared to forest and rubber plantations; this was mainly caused by reduced litter input. Furthermore, we measured reduced soil CH4 uptake in oil palm and rubber plantations compared to forest; this was due to a decrease in soil N availability in the converted land uses. Our study shows for the first time that differences in soil fertility control soil-atmosphere exchange of CO2 and CH4 in a tropical landscape.
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint