Calcium Biogeochemical Cycle in a Typical Karst Forest: Evidence from Calcium Isotope Compositions

• Main Authors: Guilin Han, Anton Eisenhauer, Jie Zeng, Man Liu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-05-01
• Series: Forests
• Subjects: calcium cycle; calcium stable isotope; forest ecosystem; karst; Southwest China
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/12/6/666

In order to better constrain calcium cycling in natural soil and in soil used for agriculture, we present the δ^44/40Ca values measured in rainwater, groundwater, plants, soil, and bedrock samples from a representative karst forest in SW China. The δ^44/40Ca values are found to differ by ≈3.0‰ in the karst forest ecosystem. The Ca isotope compositions and Ca contents of groundwater, rainwater, and bedrock suggest that the Ca of groundwater primarily originates from rainwater and bedrock. The δ^44/40Ca values of plants are lower than that of soils, indicating the preferential uptake of light Ca isotopes by plants. The distribution of δ^44/40Ca values in the soil profiles (increasing with soil depth) suggests that the recycling of crop-litter abundant with lighter Ca isotope has potential effects on soil Ca isotope composition. The soil Mg/Ca content ratio probably reflects the preferential plant uptake of Ca over Mg and the difference in soil maturity. Light Ca isotopes are more abundant in mature soils than nutrient-depleted soils. The relative abundance in the light Ca isotope (⁴⁰Ca) is in the following order: farmland > burnt grassland > forests > grassland > shrubland. Our results further indicate that biological fractionation in a soil–plant system is a vital factor for Ca–geochemical transformations in soil surface systems.