Carbon sequestration is a process of carbon dioxide capture and deposition in organic reservoirs. Exchange of carbon occurs continuously between the atmosphere and soils. Soil organic matter is a heterogenous mixture of organic substances. Non-living, non-tissue soil organic matter is called humus. Humus is composed of humic and non-humic substances.  Based on solubility and molecular weight range, humic substances are classified as fulvic acid (FA), humic acid (HA) or humin. Samples of soils were collected from five native prairies and adjacently located cultivated soils, and five prairie restorations and adjacently located cultivated soils.  Weights of both HA and FA were calculated for each soil sample.  Humification Indices (HI) were calculated as  HA/FA.  The mean HA content of the native prairies was significantly greater than the mean of the prairie restorations and the mean of the conventionally tilled control samples.  The mean HA contents of the prairie restorations and conventionally tilled controls did not differ.  Neither the HI nor FA significantly differed among the native prairies, prairie restorations or the conventionally tilled controls.  <br/>

Soil organic matter in native prairies and prairie restorations:  Humic and fulvic acid fractions

253rd National Meeting (2017)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.