Total organic carbon and its composition in long-term field experiments in the Czech Republic

Abstract

Total organic carbon content and its composition have been evaluated in the topsoil in the selected plots of 13 long-term field experiments conducted in different soil and climate conditions. The altitude of the sites ranged from 225 – 670 m above sea level. Four variants of the organic and mineral fertilization were selected in each experiment: Nil, which did not receive any organic or mineral fertilizers since the beginning of the experiment, mineral fertilized variant NPK, organic fertilized (manured) variant FYM and both organic and mineral fertilized variant FYM + NPK. Total organic carbon (C) content in the topsoil differed as a result of the soil and climate conditions (it ranged from 0.96 – 1.80% C in the Nil variants) and due to the organic and mineral fertilization. The inert and decomposable part of the soil organic C content was calculated and the hot water soluble carbon content was determined. Relationships between the individual SOM fractions have shown a highly significant correlation, except for the decomposable C calculated as a difference to Nil variant.