Baseline Spatial Variability Study - Soil Total Carbon and Nitrogen — Main Cropping System Experiment (MCSE)

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Baseline total carbon and nitrogen content, plus soil moisture and pH, of soils collected from an array of geo-referenced points prior to the start of the Main Cropping System Experiment.

This datatable is part of the Baseline Spatial Variability Study dataset. A spatial variability study conducted across the LTER Main Site area (45 ha) at KBS prior to dividing the site into 1-ha experimental plots. During the 1988 growing season a stratified unaligned sampling scheme was used to collect 400-600 geo-referenced samples across the site (uniformly planted to a single variety of soybeans) for:

  1. geomorphological characteristics (microtopography, soil horizon depths, bulk density, texture);
  2. soil chemical characteristics (pH, NO3, NH4, total C, total N, moisture, inorganic P, trace metals);
  3. soil biological characteristics (N mineralization potentials, microbial biomass C, microbial biomass N, fungal/bacterial ratios, nematodes and other soil invertebrates; seed bank size);
  4. plant weed species abundance, weed biomass at peak standing crop); and
  5. insect characteristics (major pest and predator species).

Most soil samples (0-15cm) were taken before crop emergence, plant phenology samples were taken throughout the growing season, biomass samples were taken at physiological maturity, and insect samples were taken continuously. Dried soil and plant samples are archived for potential future analysis.

Note

Experiment: Main Cropping System Experiment (MCSE)
Data available from: January 1988
Dataset: KBS003
Datatable ID: KBS003-002.48
Core Areas Organic Matter,Disturbance
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Last Updated 2020-07-10
Variate Description Units
year year of the observation
easting easting of sampling location in UTM 16N meter
northing northing of sampling location in UTM 16N meter
h2o fw soil moisture (fresh weight basis) in % %
pH soil pH dimensionless
hplus soil H+ activity in 10E+6 H+ dimensionless
total c total C in % %
total n total N in % %
soil cn C:N ratio dimensionless
h2o dw soil moisture (dry weight basis) in % %
h2o m2 soil moisture (dry weight, areal basis) in kg/m2 kilograms/squaremeter
total c m2 total C (areal basis) in kg/m2 kilograms/squaremeter
total n m2 total N (areal basis) in kg/m2 kilograms/squaremeter
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Data Excerpt

year easting northing h2o_fw ph hplus total_c total_n soil_cn h2o_dw h2o_m2 total_c_m2 total_n_m2 plot
1988 633981 4696121 11.3 6.63 0.234 1.096 0.111 9.9 12.7 28.6 2.47 0.25
1988 634280 4696128 9.8 7.03 0.093 1.016 0.105 9.7 10.9 24.6 2.29 0.24
1988 634081 4696127 11.8 6.93 0.117 1.099 0.114 9.6 13.4 30.2 2.47 0.26
1988 633913 4696126 13.9 6.62 0.24 1.374 0.139 9.9 16.1 36.3 3.09 0.31
1988 633914 4696128 12.8 6.7 0.2 1.345 0.134 10.0 14.7 33.1 3.03 0.3
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