Soil is Life Webinar Series: Soil s Role in Processing Pollutants: Case Studies of Green Infrastructure and Carbon Sequestration

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1 Soil is Life Webinar Series: Soil s Role in Processing Pollutants: Case Studies of Green Infrastructure and Carbon Sequestration Mitchell Pavao-Zuckerman Biosphere 2 & SNRE University of Arizona mzucker@ .arizona.edu

2 "In place of a type-true people, born of and grown on the soil, there is a new type of nomad, cohering unstably in fluid masses, the parasitical citydweller... Spengler, O. ( ) The decline of the west (trans.)

3 Overview 1. Intro to soils & soil food webs 2. Urban environment 3. Soils, Green Infrastructure (GI), Management 4. Soils and pollution 5. Soils and C-sequestration M. Carreiro

4 What is soil? A sand-siltclay matrix Living and dead organic matter Gases and liquids in the matrix

5 Decomposition Predation Litter fragmentation

6 Hot spots make up 10 % of soil volume but account for 90% of activity

7 Variation in Space

8 Overview 1. Intro to soils & soil food webs 2. Urban environment 3. Soils, Green Infrastructure (GI), Management 4. Soils and pollution 5. Soils and C-sequestration M. Carreiro

9 urban soil issues sealing soil quality composition

10 Urban soils are highly disturbed or even made soils Pouyat et al. 2001

11 Urban Soils Physical Impacts Natural Compacted Scheyer et al. 2005

12 Urban Soils Climate Impacts Small city 32,000 Elevation of 1.5 C Martin et al. 2012

13 Urban Soils Chemical Impacts % above rural baseline New York City 25 Pb, Cu, Ni Km from Central Park Metal Pollution Louisville, KY Pb, Cu, Ni Km from Downtown Pouyat and McDonnell, 1991 Carreiro et al., unpublished

14 Urban Soils Biota Impacts

15 Cities affect their local ecosystems differently. Pavao-Zuckerman & Coleman 2003, Pouyat et al. 2008

16 Overview 1. Intro to soils & soil food webs 2. Urban environment 3. Soils, Green Infrastructure (GI), Management 4. Soils and pollution 5. Soils and C-sequestration M. Carreiro

17 urban soil opportunities restoration reclamation urban design novel ecosystems

18 Pataki et al GI Ecosystem Services

19 Pataki et al. 2011

20 Compaction and Soil Organic Matter Bulk Density (Mg m -3 ) r = 0.52 P < SOM (%) Pouyat et al. 2002

21 Important Functions - Soil Food Web Chemical: nutrient cycling and retention, carbon sequestration, pollutant degradation Physical: infiltration, structure, aggregates, etc. Biotic: disease suppression, biodiversity

22 Overview 1. Intro to soils & soil food webs 2. Urban environment 3. Soils, Green Infrastructure (GI), Management 4. Soils and pollution 5. Soils and C-sequestration M. Carreiro

23 Rain Gardens and Bioretention

24 Desert Ecosystems Function with Precipitation Pulses

26 Green Infrastructure -Reconnecting Urban Ecohydrology Soil quality? Ecosystem Function? Ecosystem services?

27 Hypotheses H1: Rain gardens improve urban soil quality Quality Index Native Urban Rain garden H2: Rain gardens further degrade urban soil quality Quality Index Native Urban Rain garden

28 Soil carbon pools are slightly elevated in rain garden basins mg C/ g soil Labile Carbon % 10 5 Organic Matter 0 Native Urban Rain garden 0 Native Urban Rain garden ug C/ g soil Microbe Population Native Urban Rain garden

29 Rain garden microbes are active when we soak them in metals µc g -1 d Activity in Response to Metals Addition Native Urban Rain garden Microbial adaptation or acclimation to metal stress? Urban soils and ecosystems may recover quickly from disturbance.

5 g soil -1 [0.9] Bacteria Feeders 7.8 [1.7] 6.2 [1.6] Fungal Feeders 0.

31 Nematode community analysis - food web development in rain garden basins k Urban Yard Rain Garden Basin Abundance 6.9 g soil -1 [0.7] 8.5 g soil -1 [0.9] Bacteria Feeders 7.8 [1.7] 6.2 [1.6] Fungal Feeders 0.5 [0.6] 1.3 [0.5] Omnivores Carnivores 0.25 [0.5] 1.5 [.8] FF: BF Ratio

32 Rain Gardens have more structured soil food webs Enrichment and input to soils A. Disturbed B. Maturing D. Degraded Urban yard C. Structured Rain Garden More food web structure 5x increase in F:B ratio 6x increase in predators

33 Organic mulch reduces N-mineralization rates N-mineralization

34 Nematode Community Indices: more food web structure with organic mulch Response to enrichment and input A. Disturbed B. Maturing D. Degraded Urban yard Rock- Mulch C. Structured Organic Mulch More food web structure

35 Bioretention Potentials Soil Mixture SOM Infiltration Rate Removal Efficiency (%) (%) (cm/min) Cd Pb NO 3 -N Sand Sand + mulch Loam Loam + mulch

36 Overview 1. Intro to soils & soil food webs 2. Urban environment 3. Soils, Green Infrastructure (GI), Management 4. Soils and pollution 5. Soils and C-sequestration M. Carreiro

37 To be sequestered in the soil CO 2 in the atmosphere must first be taken up a plant CO 2 Litter Fall Litter Fall Root Exudates Decomposition Root death Soil Organic Matter

38 Soil C increases with prairie restoration Soil C Virgin Growing Season Since Restoration Jastrow 1996

39 Soil C increases w/ age since development 12 Carbon (kg m -2 ) Woody Vegetation C Lawn Stubble C SOC 0-10 cm SOC cm SOC cm 0 Grassland AGRIC. 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s Land Use or Decade of Development Golubiewski (2006)

40 How to Promote Soil C-sequestration (Lal et al. 2003) Residue management Use of soil amendments Less disturbance Maintain root biomass in soil Prescribed fire Mimic the natural ecosystem

41 Soil C Varies in the Urban Landscape Carbon Density by Type and Land Use Type/Land Use Recreational use/grass Dredge (recent) Coal ash Refuse Residential grass Park use/grass Dredge (old) Clean fill Construction debris Pouyat et al 2003 Carbon Density (Kg/m 2 )

42 Rain harvesting basins - 33% larger trees CO 2 Sequestered (kg/tree) Basin tree Non-basin tree Aboveground Biomass (kg/tree)

43 Relevance of soil knowledge for.. Pavao-Zuckerman 2012

44 Digging Deeper D.C. Coleman et al. Fundamentals of Soil Ecology D. Wall et al. Soil ecology and ecosystem services USDA, Urban Soil Primer: EPA, Evaluation of Urban Soils for Green Infrastructure

Managing Soils in Rangelands. Jerry Daigle

Managing Soils in Rangelands. Jerry Daigle Managing Soils in Rangelands Jerry Daigle State Soil Scientist Alexandria, LA What is Rangeland? Land on which the native vegetation is predominantly: grasses grass-like plants forbs shrubs Photo by Gary