Abstract
Measuring soil carbon stores and fluxes is important for our ability to understand ecosystem health and carbon sequestration. Soil carbon can be measured in a range of ways, most usually and simply by loss on ignition (LOI) at temperatures from 375 to 850 °C and durations from 0.5 to 16 h, with the application of a conversion factor to convert LOI to organic carbon. The lack of a standard method is not the only complexity; the loss on ignition metric is prone to error as waters of formation are lost from hydrated minerals including salts, clays and other minerals. In field measurements of soil carbon are now possible using Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS). Measurements are fast, inexpensive and have reasonable accuracies. Here, we present a measurement program for soil carbon from a wetland in semi-arid central NSW, and we will highlight some of the advantages and pitfalls of using LIBS for measurement of soil carbon
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | WIDS2017 Dynamic Landscapes |
Subtitle of host publication | proceedings of the Wetlands in Drylands Research Network Conference |
Editors | Timothy J. Ralph |
Place of Publication | Sydney, Australia |
Publisher | Macquarie University |
Pages | 14 |
Number of pages | 1 |
ISBN (Print) | 9781741384543 |
Publication status | Published - 24 Jul 2017 |
Bibliographical note
Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s. For further rights please contact the author/s or copyright owner.Fingerprint
Dive into the research topics of 'Rapid analysis of soil carbon in wetlands, using Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS)'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Impacts
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Wetlands in Drylands: conservation through environmental research, citizen science and global engagement
Tim Ralph (Participant)
Impact: Science impacts, Environment impacts, Policy impacts, Society impacts