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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Pendleton, Oregon » Columbia Plateau Conservation Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #131575
Title: CARBON DIOXIDE FLUX MEASUREMENT DURING SIMULATED TILLAGE

Author
item Wuest, Stewart
item DURR, DANIEL - FORMER ARS EMPLOYEE
item Albrecht, Stephan

Submitted to: Agronomy Journal
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/1/2002
Publication Date: 5/1/2003
Citation: WUEST,S.B., DURR,D., ALBRECHT,S.L., CARBON DIOXIDE FLUX MEASUREMENT DURING SIMULATED TILLAGE, AGRONOMY JOURNAL, 95:715-718 (2003).

Interpretive Summary: Understanding the storage and release of carbon from soil is important to the management of soil quality and also carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. Major efforts are underway to study the effects of tillage and other practices on the flux of carbon dioxide from the soil, generally by making point measurements before and after tillage. We built a device which monitors flux continuously before, during, and after tillage and demonstrated how this type of data is important to the interpretation of the biological and physical factors involved. This research finding introduces a new technique which enables scientists to follow the time- course of events induced by tillage, eliminating some of the guess work involved in point measurements.

Technical Abstract: Measurement of effects of tillage often include CO2 flux from soil before and after, but not during tillage. Our objective was to measure CO2 flux during a simulated tillage operation. We built a chamber with an auger inside for tilling the soil while continuously monitoring CO2 flux. Different soil conditions produced very different flux curves. The first produced a large peak during tillage and steady decline thereafter. A second produced the same large peak followed by a rapid return to pre- tillage rates, and then a gradual climb in flux over the next 10 minutes. The third soil condition, having sterilized topsoil, produced a tillage peak and then an immediate return to the pre-tillage flux rate. We conclude that continuous monitoring of CO2 flux before, during, and after tillage will be helpful in the proper interpretation of flux data regarding biotic and abiotic processes.