Impacts of Floods on Organic Carbon Concentrations in Alluvial Soils along Hydrological Gradients Using a Digital Elevation Model (DEM)

This study examines the spatial distribution of the organic carbon found in alluvial soils affected by successive floods. In flood zones, very little is known of the processes associated with the development of soils subjected to frequent flooding, in particular with respect to the accumulation of litter and organic carbon concentrations. The aim of this study is to better understand the distribution of organic carbon based on various hydrological gradients associated with flood recurrence. A digital elevation model was developed from LIDAR data to assess the microtopography of the site, and further delineate floodplains and no-flood zones. Various soil properties were considered in addition to organic carbon, such as pH, soil bulk density, litter, drainage, and topographic levels (elevation). The results show that the soils in the frequent-flood zones (FFz, recurrence of 0–20 years) have significantly less total organic carbon than the soils in the no-flood zones (NFz) and the moderate flood zones (MFz, 20–100 years). Average values obtained for the surface horizons (0–20 cm) vary by 1.74% ± 0.85% (FFz), 3.34% ± 1.09% (MFz) and 3.54% ± 1.77% (NFz), respectively. The absence of ground litter in the frequent flood zones helps decrease the input of organic matter in the surface horizons and progressively results in soil depletion.

[1]  S. Singh,et al.  Concentration and stock of carbon in the soils affected by land uses and climates in the western Himalaya, India , 2011 .

[2]  Xiaorong Wei,et al.  Soil organic carbon and total nitrogen as affected by vegetation types in Northern Loess Plateau of China , 2010 .

[3]  S. Bayley,et al.  Aboveground biomass and nutrient limitation in relation to river connectivity in montane floodplain marshes , 2009, Wetlands.

[4]  J. Poesen,et al.  Sediment, soil organic carbon and runoff delivery at various spatial scales , 2012 .

[5]  F. Comín,et al.  Carbon and nitrogen accretion in the topsoil of the Middle Ebro River Floodplains (NE Spain): Implications for their ecological restoration , 2010 .

[6]  G. Bellocchi,et al.  Modelling the inter-annual variability of sediment yields: A case study for the upper Lech River , 2012 .

[7]  C. Birkel,et al.  Modelling the impacts of land-cover change on streamflow dynamics of a tropical rainforest headwater catchment , 2012 .

[8]  D. Saint-Laurent,et al.  High-Precision Elevation Model to Evaluate the Spatial Distribution of Soil Organic Carbon in Active Floodplains , 2011, Wetlands.

[9]  D. Philippe.  Introduction à la science du sol , 2017 .

[10]  R. Smith,et al.  Complex effects of channelization and levee construction on western Tennessee floodplain forest function , 2009, Wetlands.

[11]  José Raúl Rodríguez Rodríguez,et al.  Implications of soil organic carbon and the biogeochemistry of iron and aluminum on soil phosphorus distribution in flooded forests of the lower Orinoco River, Venezuela , 2005 .

[12]  Helga Van Miegroet,et al.  The Impact of Nitrification on Soil Acidification and Cation Leaching in a Red Alder Ecosystem , 1984 .

[13]  A. Douabul,et al.  Vegetation Response to Re-flooding in the Mesopotamian Wetlands, Southern Iraq , 2010, Wetlands.

[14]  D. Saint-Laurent,et al.  A Comparison of the Composition and Diversity of Tree Populations along a Hydrological Gradient in Floodplains (Southern Québec, Canada) , 2015 .

[15]  P. Groffman,et al.  Spatial Distribution of Carbon in the Subsurface of Riparian Zones , 2009 .

[16]  Fu-qiang Dai,et al.  Temporal variation of soil organic matter content and potential determinants in Tibet, China , 2011 .

[17]  Xuan Fang,et al.  Soil organic carbon distribution in relation to land use and its storage in a small watershed of the Loess Plateau, China , 2012 .

[18]  J. Daniels.  Floodplain aggradation and pedogenesis in a semiarid environment , 2003 .

[19]  R. Cantet,et al.  Land use effects on soil carbon in the Argentine Pampas , 2013 .

[20]  D. A. Barry,et al.  Analysis of carbon and nitrogen dynamics in riparian soils: model development. , 2012, The Science of the total environment.

[21]  R. Naiman,et al.  A Quantitative Model of Soil Organic Matter Accumulation During Floodplain Primary Succession , 2009, Ecosystems.

[22]  A. Suddhiprakarn,et al.  Influence of soil texture and mineralogy on organic matter content and composition in physically separated fractions soils of Thailand , 2013 .

[23]  Zhengang Wang,et al.  Erosion, deposition and soil carbon: A review of process-level controls, experimental tools and models to address C cycling in dynamic landscapes , 2016 .

[24]  J. Baldock,et al.  Importance of mechanisms and processes of the stabilisation of soil organic matter for modelling carbon turnover. , 2003, Functional plant biology : FPB.

[25]  U. C. Kothyari,et al.  Estimation of temporal variation of sediment yield using GIS / Estimation de la variation temporelle de l'exportation sédimentaire grâce à un SIG , 2002 .

[26]  C. Hall,et al.  Pattern and variation of C:N:P ratios in China’s soils: a synthesis of observational data , 2010 .

[27]  L. Condron,et al.  Effects of afforestation on organic carbon, nitrogen and sulfur concentrations in New Zealand hill country soils , 2002 .

[28]  U. Langer,et al.  Microbial biomass, enzyme activities and microbial community structure in two European long-term field experiments , 2005 .

[29]  Carl D. Sayer,et al.  River–floodplain hydrology of an embanked lowland Chalk river and initial response to embankment removal , 2013 .

[30]  K. Schilling,et al.  Vertical distribution of total carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in riparian soils of Walnut Creek, southern Iowa. , 2009 .

[31]  M. Benedetti.  Controls on overbank deposition in the Upper Mississippi River , 2003 .

[32]  D. Murphy,et al.  The contribution of soil organic matter fractions to carbon and nitrogen mineralization and microbial community size and structure , 2005 .

[33]  Yingkui Li,et al.  Spatial and temporal variations of suspended sediment deposition in the alluvial reach of the upper Yellow River from 1952 to 2007 , 2012 .

[34]  W. Mitsch,et al.  A comparison of soil carbon pools and profiles in wetlands in Costa Rica and Ohio , 2008 .

[35]  J. Meyer,et al.  Fluxes of bacteria and organic matter into a blackwater river from river sediments and floodplain soils , 1992 .

[36]  K. Oost,et al.  Importance of land use patterns for erosion-induced carbon fluxes in a Mediterranean catchment , 2014 .

[37]  R. Weil,et al.  The nature and properties of soils. 11th ed. , 1996 .

[38]  B. Ghaleb,et al.  Floodplain sedimentation rates, soil properties and recent flood history in southern Québec , 2010 .

[39]  D. A. Barry,et al.  Analysis of carbon and nitrogen dynamics in riparian soils: model validation and sensitivity to environmental controls. , 2012, The Science of the total environment.

[40]  A. Díaz,et al.  Variability of relationships between soil organic carbon and some soil properties in Mediterranean rangelands under different climatic conditions (South of Spain) , 2012 .

[41]  Matthias Obermann,et al.  Impact of significant floods on the annual load in an agricultural catchment in the mediterranean , 2007 .

[42]  W. Horwath,et al.  Litter type and soil minerals control temperate forest soil carbon response to climate change , 2008 .

[43]  Miklas Scholz,et al.  Carbon Storage and Fluxes within Freshwater Wetlands: a Critical Review , 2009, Wetlands.

[44]  B. Ghaleb,et al.  Use geopedological methods for the evaluation of sedimentation rates on river floodplains, southern Québec, Canada , 2008 .

[45]  J. M. Bremner,et al.  A rapid and precise method for routine determination of organic carbon in soil , 1988 .

[46]  D. Saint-Laurent,et al.  Analyse pédologique et sédimentologique des sols alluviaux et paléosols des terrasses d’inondation , 2006 .

[47]  M. Mesfioui,et al.  Organic carbon distribution in alluvial soils according to different flood risk zones , 2013 .