Stable and Mobile (Water-Extractable) Forms of Organic Matter in High-Latitude Volcanic Soils Under Various Land Use Scenarios in Southeastern Iceland

Aleksandra Kot, Urszula Norton, Grzegorz Kulczycki, Jón Guðmundsson, Agnieszka Medyńska-Juraszek, Chloe M. Mattilio, Szymon Jędrzejewski and Jarosław Waroszewski ()
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Aleksandra Kot: Institute of Soil Science, Plant Nutrition and Environmental Protection, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Grunwaldzka 53, 50-357 Wroclaw, Poland
Urszula Norton: Plant Sciences Department, University of Wyoming, Department 3354, 1000 East University Avenue, Laramie, WY 82071, USA
Grzegorz Kulczycki: Institute of Soil Science, Plant Nutrition and Environmental Protection, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Grunwaldzka 53, 50-357 Wroclaw, Poland
Jón Guðmundsson: Faculty of Environmental and Forest Sciences, Agricultural University of Iceland, Árleyni 22, 112 Reykjavik, Iceland
Agnieszka Medyńska-Juraszek: Institute of Soil Science, Plant Nutrition and Environmental Protection, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Grunwaldzka 53, 50-357 Wroclaw, Poland
Chloe M. Mattilio: Plant Sciences Department, University of Wyoming, Department 3354, 1000 East University Avenue, Laramie, WY 82071, USA
Szymon Jędrzejewski: Institute of Soil Science, Plant Nutrition and Environmental Protection, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Grunwaldzka 53, 50-357 Wroclaw, Poland
Jarosław Waroszewski: Institute of Soil Science, Plant Nutrition and Environmental Protection, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Grunwaldzka 53, 50-357 Wroclaw, Poland

Agriculture, 2025, vol. 15, issue 12, 1-15

Abstract: High-latitude regions store substantial amounts of soil organic matter (SOM). Icelandic volcanic soils have exceptional capabilities for SOM accumulation, but recent changes in land use can significantly impact it. Water-extractable organic matter (WEOM) represents a labile SOM pool and serves as a reliable index of SOM dynamics. We assessed the stable carbon (C), stable nitrogen (N), and WEOC (water-extractable organic carbon), as well as WETN (water-extractable total nitrogen), concentrations in soils under different land uses—semi-natural habitats (tundra and wetland) and human-managed areas (intensively and extensively grazed pasturelands and formerly and presently fertilized meadows)—in southeastern Iceland. The results suggest that human-managed sites contain more total C and N but less WEOM per unit of total C or N than semi-natural habitats, except for wetlands. Wetlands exhibited the highest WEOM content. Extensive pasturelands and fertilized meadows are becoming more common in local ecosystems, highlighting the direction of changes in Icelandic grasslands management.

Keywords: water-extractable organic matter; WEOM; Andosols; grasslands; high-latitude volcanic soils; subarctic (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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