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Oxidative ratio (OR) of Southern African soils and vegetation: Updating the global OR estimate

Clay, G.D.; Worrall, F.

Oxidative ratio (OR) of Southern African soils and vegetation: Updating the global OR estimate Thumbnail


Authors

G.D. Clay



Abstract

Oxidative ratio (OR) is the ratio of moles O2 released per mole CO2 sequestered through photosynthesis in the terrestrial biosphere. The lower the OR value the more CO2 an environment can potentially sequester. It is this property of the organic matter that plays a role in models of CO2 partitioning between the atmosphere and the biosphere. Recent studies have shown that the accepted value of OR (1.1 ± 0.05) may not be appropriate but that there are a number of research gaps before a full account of global OR values can be carried out. This study aims to fill some of the research gaps by carrying out a targeted sampling campaign in southern Africa. Vegetation, litter and soil samples were taken from a range of soil orders and biomes across a series of locations in South Africa and Swaziland. From these samples this study has been able to update a recent meta-analysis and show that although there were significant differences between some sites and vegetation types, there was no significant difference between the soil orders or biomes sampled. This study has also been able to update the global ORterra estimate to 1.06 ± 0.06.

Citation

Clay, G., & Worrall, F. (2015). Oxidative ratio (OR) of Southern African soils and vegetation: Updating the global OR estimate. CATENA, 126, 126-133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2014.10.029

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Oct 28, 2014
Publication Date Mar 1, 2015
Deposit Date May 1, 2015
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal CATENA
Print ISSN 0341-8162
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 126
Pages 126-133
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2014.10.029
Keywords Oxidative ratio, Terrestrial carbon cycle, Elemental composition, Organic matter, Swaziland, South Africa.

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Accepted Journal Article (388 Kb)
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Copyright Statement
NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in CATENA. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in CATENA, 126, March 2015, 10.1016/j.catena.2014.10.029.





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