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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Columbia, Missouri » Cropping Systems and Water Quality Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #369645
Research Project: Sustainable Intensification of Cropping Systems on Spatially Variable Landscapes and Soils

Location: Cropping Systems and Water Quality Research

Title: Soil biogeochemistry in playa wetlands in response to changing land use

Author
item OWEN, RACHEL - University Of Missouri
item GOYNE, KEITH - University Of Missouri
item Veum, Kristen
item WEBB, ELIZABETH - Us Geological Survey (USGS)

Submitted to: ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/30/2019
Publication Date: 11/10/2019
Citation: Owen, R.K., Goyne, K.W., Veum, K.S., Webb, E.B. 2019. Soil biogeochemistry in playa wetlands in response to changing land use [abstract]. ASA-CSSA-SSA Annual International Conference, November 10-13, 2019, San Antonio, Texas. No. 123-11.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: In the Great Plains, USA, land use practices are predicted to change based on shifting climate conditions, with cultivation increasing or decreasing, depending on precipitation, atmospheric carbon dioxide, and conservation policies. Given projected land use changes in the Great Plains, the overall goal of this project was to understand changes in playa wetland soil biogeochemical processes associated with projected changes in land use. Soil mesocosm units were collected from playas in the Rainwater Basin of Nebraska and Southern High Plains in Texas. To assess how predicted land use changes will affect playa soil biogeochemical cycles, a greenhouse experiment was conducted to mimic the historic growing season in Nebraska and Texas playas under seven nitrogen (N) loading rates, ranging from 0 to 100 mg-N L-1. Subsequently, we conducted lab-based incubation studies to evaluate the effects of land use changes on carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. Preliminary results indicate some shifts in carbon and nitrogen speciation in response to N loading rate, but there are few clear trends. Playa soils may have a strong buffering capacity, derived from within-wetland and landscape-scale variability, to withstand shifts in land use which result in changes in nutrient loading.