The human dimension of pedogenesis and soil organic matter accumulation at grazed and pristine sites in the High Andes
Final Report Abstract
Human impact in the High Andes had mixed effects on biodiversity, while soils and carbon stocks were mainly indirectly affected through a suggested large-scale vegetation change. The high mountain climate led to high soil organic matter contents in thick A-horizons. Use of inaccessibility as tool showed that soils dominated by grass vegetation (rangelands and pristine grasslands) were more acidic with base saturation levels below 50%. Therefore, grassland soils were classified as Umbrisols, whereas forest soils had higher base saturation (>50%) and were classified as Phaeozemes. Higher aluminium concentrations in the Umbrisols was related to complexaton of soil organic matter and, hence, preservation of soil carbon. Although stocks of soil carbon did not differ markedly, this indicates a higher degree of stabilised carbon under grassland. The anthropogenic effect of soil carbon stocks is therefore mainly present at the landscape scale. The conversion of a naturally forest-dominated ecosystem into an anthropogenic grass-dominated ecosystem led to large scale acidification, changing the domoinance of stabilisation mechanisms in the soils of the High Andes in Southern Peru.
Publications
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(2014) Inaccessible Andean sites reveal human-induced weathering in grazed soils. Progress in Physical Geography 38: 576-601
Heitkamp F, Sylvester SP, Kessler M, Sylvester MDPV and Jungkunst HF
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(2015): Inacessible Andean sites reveal land-use induced stabilisation of soil organic carbon. EGU General Assembly Conference Abstracts 17
Heitkamp F, Maqsood S, Sylvester SP, Kessler M, Jungkunst HF
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(2015): Soil acidification drives carbon stabilisation in soils grazed for millenia. 5th International Symposium on Soil Organic Matter, Göttingen
Heitkamp F, Zeppenfeld T, Sylvester SP, Maqsood S, Kessler M & Jungkunst HF
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(2017) Relict high-Andean ecosystems challenge our concepts of naturalness and human impacts. Scientific Reports 7: 3334
Sylvester SP, Heitkamp F, Sylvester MDPV, Jungkunst HF, Sipman HJM, Toivonen JM, Gonzales Inca CA, Ospina JC and Kessler M
