Recall that soil organic matter includes all forms of organic carbon (i.e. In a 17-year tillage experiment in Mandan, ND, total organic carbon did not change much after conversion to no-till however, active carbon increased significantly from 470 to 600 ppm (Weil et al., 2003). As an organic carbon fraction, active carbon is closely related to soil organic matter.Īctive carbon should be utilized as a tracking tool to measure improvement in soil quality. It helps explain why two soils with 3% soil organic matter, for example, may behave differently regarding biological activity or nutrient cycling.įigure 1. 1), but it responds more quickly to changes in crop and soil management. As one component of the total organic carbon pool, active carbon has a strong relationship with overall soil organic matter (r = 0.80, Fig. It represents the microbially available carbon energy sources, that is microorganism food. Active carbon is a quick, repeatable soil test that measures the easily oxidizable, biologically active carbon fraction.Īctive carbon typically comprises about 1 to 4% of total organic carbon in soil. reduced tillage, diversified crop rotation, cover crop inclusion). This portion of soil organic matter is actively involved in nutrient cycling and changes more quickly when cropping systems are changed (e.g. In fact, less than 1% of plant biomass carbon returned to soil eventually becomes stable humus organic carbon.Īctive carbon, also known as permanganate-oxidizable carbon (POXC), is a sensitive tool for measuring soil carbon change. However, soil organic matter often changes slowly for several years. When you reduce tillage or increase crop rotation diversity, you expect soil organic matter to increase. Therefore, much interest in soil health focuses on increasing carbon storage in soil. Article source: AGVISE Laboratories Soil Health Focus Active carbon (POXC): What does it measure?Ĭarbon is the currency of nature: the backbone of soil organic matter and the energy source for soil microorganisms.
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