<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><eml:eml xmlns:eml="https://eml.ecoinformatics.org/eml-2.2.0" xmlns:stmml="http://www.xml-cml.org/schema/stmml-1.1" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="https://eml.ecoinformatics.org/eml-2.2.0 https://lter.kbs.msu.edu/docs/eml-2.2.0/eml.xsd" packageId="knb-lter-kbs.24.29" system="KBS LTER"><access scope="document" order="allowFirst" authSystem="knb"><allow><principal>uid=KBS,o=lter,dc=ecoinformatics,dc=org</principal><permission>all</permission></allow><allow><principal>uid=sbohm,o=lter,dc=ecoinformatics,dc=org</principal><permission>all</permission></allow><allow><principal>public</principal><permission>read</permission></allow></access><dataset><alternateIdentifier system="lter.kbs.msu.edu">https://lter.kbs.msu.edu/datasets/27.eml</alternateIdentifier><title>Soil Total Carbon and Nitrogen of the Main Cropping System  Experiment at the Kellogg Biological Station, Hickory Corners, MI </title><creator><individualName><givenName>G.</givenName><surName>Robertson</surName></individualName><organizationName>Michigan State University</organizationName><address><deliveryPoint>3700 East Gull Lake Drive</deliveryPoint><city>Hickory Corners</city><administrativeArea>MI</administrativeArea><postalCode>49060</postalCode><country>US</country></address><phone phonetype="phone">(269) 760-8364</phone><phone phonetype="fax">(269)671-2351</phone><electronicMailAddress>robert30@msu.edu</electronicMailAddress><userId directory="http://orcid.org">0000-0001-9771-9895</userId></creator><associatedParty><individualName><givenName>Stacey</givenName><surName>VanderWulp</surName></individualName><organizationName>Michigan State University</organizationName><address><deliveryPoint>3700 East Gull Lake Drive</deliveryPoint><city>Hickory Corners</city><administrativeArea>MI</administrativeArea><postalCode>49060</postalCode><country>US</country></address><phone phonetype="phone">(269) 671-2339</phone><phone phonetype="fax">(269) 671-2333</phone><electronicMailAddress>vanderws@msu.edu</electronicMailAddress><role>principal contact</role></associatedParty><pubDate>2026-08-09</pubDate><abstract><section><title>Dataset Abstract</title><para></para><para>original data source http://lter.kbs.msu.edu/datasets/27</para></section></abstract><keywordSet><keyword keywordType="place">LTER</keyword><keyword keywordType="place">KBS</keyword><keyword keywordType="place">Kellogg Biological Station</keyword><keyword keywordType="place">Hickory Corners</keyword><keyword keywordType="place">Michigan</keyword><keyword keywordType="place">Great Lakes</keyword></keywordSet><keywordSet><keyword keywordType="theme">nitrogen</keyword><keyword keywordType="theme">soil</keyword><keyword keywordType="theme">carbon</keyword><keyword keywordType="theme">to</keyword><keyword keywordType="theme">nitrogen</keyword><keyword keywordType="theme">ratio</keyword><keyword keywordType="theme">carbon</keyword></keywordSet><keywordSet><keyword>Organic Matter</keyword><keyword>Disturbance</keyword><keywordThesaurus>LTER Core Research Area</keywordThesaurus></keywordSet><keywordSet><keyword>carbon nitrogen soil carbon content total nitrogen carbon to nitrogen ratio nitrogen content</keyword></keywordSet><keywordSet><keyword keywordType="theme">farming</keyword><keyword keywordType="theme">biota</keyword><keywordThesaurus>https://apps.usgs.gov/thesaurus/thesaurus-full.php?thcode=15</keywordThesaurus></keywordSet><intellectualRights><para>Data in the KBS LTER core database may not be published without written permission of the lead investigator or project director. These restrictions are intended mainly to preserve the primary investigators' rights to first publication and to ensure that data users are aware of the limitations that may be associated with any specific data set. These restrictions apply to both the baseline data set and to the data sets associated with specific LTER-supported subprojects.</para><para>All publications of KBS data and images must acknowledge KBS LTER support.</para></intellectualRights><coverage><geographicCoverage><geographicDescription>The areas around the Kellogg Biological Station in southwest Michigan</geographicDescription><boundingCoordinates><westBoundingCoordinate>-85.404699</westBoundingCoordinate><eastBoundingCoordinate>-85.366857</eastBoundingCoordinate><northBoundingCoordinate>42.420265</northBoundingCoordinate><southBoundingCoordinate>42.391019</southBoundingCoordinate></boundingCoordinates></geographicCoverage><temporalCoverage><rangeOfDates><beginDate><calendarDate>1989-06-21</calendarDate></beginDate><endDate><calendarDate>2001-04-04</calendarDate></endDate></rangeOfDates></temporalCoverage></coverage><contact><organizationName>Kellogg Biological Station</organizationName><positionName>Data Manager</positionName><electronicMailAddress>lter.data.manager@kbs.msu.edu</electronicMailAddress><onlineUrl>http://lter.kbs.msu.edu</onlineUrl><userId directory="https://ror.org/">02vkce854</userId></contact><publisher><organizationName>KBS LTER</organizationName></publisher><methods><methodStep><description>Soil total carbon and nitrogen as well as the ratio of C:N are important attributes of soil fertility. Both total C and N are measured by a combustion method that does not differentiate between organic and inorganic forms of the elements. In most soils, inorganic N is a tiny fraction of total N so total N is synonymous with organic N. Inorganic C, on the other hand, can be a significant portion of total C in soils with carbonate minerals. Extensive testing of KBS surface soils has shown soil inorganic C to be non-detectable; thus total C in KBS surface soils is synonymous with total organic carbon (TOC).
However, carbonates may still be present in deep or recently limed soils, which must be tested for inorganic carbon and, if present, the carbonates removed via acid fumigation (described below) prior to total C analysis. Inorganic C can also be analyzed separately via the inorganic C protocol.
To measure total C and N, subsamples of dried, finely ground soil are weighed into small foil capsules that are combusted in an automated CHN analyzer that measures the amount of released CO2 and N2 by gas chromatography. Final values are expressed as the percentage of carbon or nitrogen in dry soil. If inorganic C has been confirmed to be absent, removed, or analyzed separately and subtracted, values can be expressed as total organic C.
Sampling frequency depends on experiment and research objectives. Since 2001, soils of the LTER Main Cropping System Experiment are analyzed for total C and N as part of the decadal deep soil core (whole profile) sampling program, usually in late fall of wheat years.</description><protocol id="protocol_37"><title>Soil Total Carbon and Nitrogen</title><creator><positionName>Data Manager</positionName></creator><distribution><online><url>http://lter.kbs.msu.edu/protocols/37</url></online></distribution></protocol></methodStep></methods><project><title>LTER: KBS - Ecological and Social Mechanisms of Resilience in Agroecosystems</title><personnel><organizationName/><role>program</role></personnel><award><funderName>National Science Foundation</funderName><funderIdentifier>http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000001</funderIdentifier><awardNumber>DEB 2224712</awardNumber><title>LTER: KBS - Ecological and Social Mechanisms of Resilience in Agroecosystems</title><awardUrl>https%3A%2F%2Fnsf.gov%2Fawardsearch%2FshowAward%3FAWD_ID%3D2224712%26HistoricalAwards%3Dfalse</awardUrl></award></project><usageCitation><bibtex>@article{citation_3502,
  author = {C M Kallenbach and A S Grandy and S D Frey and A F Diefendorf},
  title = {Microbial physiology and necromass regulate agricultural soil carbon accumulation},
  year = {2015},
  journal = {Soil Biology and Biochemistry},
  pages = {279-290},
  volume = {91},
  doi = {10.1016/j.soilbio.2015.09.005}
}
</bibtex></usageCitation></dataset><additionalMetadata><metadata><stmml:unitList xmlns:stmml="http://www.xml-cml.org/schema/stmml-1.1" xmlns="http://www.xml-cml.org/schema/stmml" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.xml-cml.org/schema/stmml-1.1 http://nis.lternet.edu/schemas/EML/eml-2.1.0/stmml.xsd"><stmml:unit id="gramsPerHectogram" name="gramsPerHectogram"/></stmml:unitList></metadata></additionalMetadata></eml:eml>