Effect of temperature on the decomposition rate of labile and stable organic matter in an agrochernozem

An hypothesis about the different temperature dependences of the decomposition of the labile and stable organic carbon pools has been tested using an agrochernozem sampled from an experimental plot of 42-year-old continuous corn in Voronezh oblast. The partitioning of the CO2 loss during the decomposition of the labile and stable soil organic matter (SOM) at 2, 12, and 22°C in a long-term incubation experiment was performed using the method of 13C natural abundance by C3–C4 transition. On the basis of the determined decomposition constants, the SOM pools have been arranged in an order according to their increasing stability: plant residues < new (C4) SOM < old (C3) SOM. The tested hypothesis has been found valid only for a limited temperature interval. The temperature coefficient Q10 increases in the stability order from 1.2 to 4.3 in the interval of 12–22°C. At low temperatures (2–12°C), the values of Q10 insignificantly vary among the SOM pools and lie in the range of 2.2–2.8. Along with the decomposition constants of the SOM, the new-to-old carbon ratio in the CO2 efflux from the soil and the magnitude of the negative priming effect for the old SOM caused by the input of new organic matter depend on the temperature. In the soil under continuous corn fertilized with NPK, the increased decomposition of C3 SOM is observed compared to the unfertilized control; the temperature dependences of the SOM decomposition are similar in both agrochernozem treatments.