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Patterning between urban soil color and carbon stocks
Citation:
Schifman, L., D. Herrmann, AND W. Shuster. Patterning between urban soil color and carbon stocks. Presented at Am. Geophysical Union, New Orleans, LA, December 11 - 15, 2017.
Impact/Purpose:
Urban soils are less complex in contrast to non-urban soils due to land management, e.g., fill, demolition, etc. For example, urban soils have fewer horizons than non-urban soils, and are also more likely to have lost the “B” horizon [1]. Along similar lines, we hypothesize that urban soils are less complex in color and carbon concentration, affecting ecosystem service delivery in urban ecosystems.
Description:
Urban soils are less complex in contrast to non-urban soils due to land management, e.g., fill, demolition, etc. For example, urban soils have fewer horizons than non-urban soils, and are also more likely to have lost the “B” horizon [1]. Along similar lines, we hypothesize that urban soils are less complex in color and carbon concentration (Fig. 1). Here we predict soil carbon based on color and assess how these distributions differ between urban and rural soils. We use a combination of lab measured total carbon (TC) and estimated total carbon based on color (Munsell Value) obtained as part of the EPA urban soils assessment as well as soils data from the National Cooperative Soil Survey to compare urban and non-urban reference soils up to 150 cm depth to further understand impacts of urbanization.