1. TITLE
1.1 Data Set Identification
RAISE Soil data set_ asano
1.2. DVD-ROM File name
1) Major plant species of the steppe sites
2) Brief description of the soil profile morphology
3) Physico- chemical characteristics of steppe soils
4) Soil classifications of steppe soils
5) Isotopic variation of soil organic matter and pedogenic carbonate at steppe soils
2. INVESTIGATORS
2.1. Investigators Name and Title.
Kenji Tamura (Associate Professor of Graduate School of Life and Environmental
Sciences, University of Tsukuba)
Maki Asano (Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of
Tsukuba)
2.2. Contacts (For data production information)
2.3.1 (Name) Contact 1 Kenji Tamura
Contact 2 Maki Asano
2.3.2 (Address) Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of
Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennoudai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8572 Japan
2.3.3 (Tel.) + 81-29-853-7201
2.3.4(Fax.) + 81-29-853-xxxx
2.3.5 (E-mail) tamura@agbi.tsukuba.ac.jp
masano@hc.cc.keio.ac.jp
3. Materials and Methods
3.1 Major plant species of the steppe sites
For the vegetation survey, five quadrats of 1m ×1 m were established at forest
steppe and steppe site, and the plant coverage (C; %) and height (H; cm) of each species
in each site were measured using the modified Penfound–Howard method (Numata,
1987). Extended summed dominance ratio, E-SDR2 (Yamamoto et al., 1995) was
calculated to compare species compositions among different communities. The value of
E-SDR2 was obtained using the following equation (1):
E-SDR2 = (C’ + H’) / 2
(1)
where C’ and H’ are relative coverage value and relative plant height of each species to
the respective maximum values of all communities, respectively. Nomenclatures of the
species were assigned according to the Committee of Flora of Inner Mongolia (1994).
Vegetation survey was conducted on 11 August 2002 at KBU, 21–26 June 2003 at BGN,
JGH, UDH, and DH sites.
3.2 Brief description of the soil profile morphology
Soil profiles were observed and described according to the FAO (1990). Soil
survey was conducted on 11 August 2002 at KBU, 21–26 June 2003 at BGN, JGH, UDH,
and DH sites.
3.3 Physico- Chemical characteristics of steppe soils
3.3.1 Materials
Soil samples were collected from each horizon of the six soil profiles. The soil
sampling depth was described in table. Undisturbed soil core samples for physical
measurements were sampled using a cylindrical 100-mL core sampler. Soil samples for
chemical analyses were air dried and sieved through 2 mm. The samples were subjected
to the following physical measurements and chemical analyses (Committee of Soil
Environment Analysis, 1997).
3.3.2 Measurement of physical properties
Three-phase ratio was calculated according to the actual volumetric method.
Saturated hydraulic conductivity was determined by the falling-head permeability
method.
3.3.3 Measurement of chemical properties
Organic carbon and total nitrogen contents were determined by the dry combustion
method using an NC analyzer (Sumigraph NC-900, Sumika Chemical Analysis Service,
Tokyo, Japan). Inorganic carbon content was determined by the wet combustion method
(Clark and Ogg, 1942). Values of pH were determined for a 1:2.5 air-dried soil / distilled
water mixture using a glass electrode pH meter. Electric conductivity (EC) was
determined for a 1:5 air-dried soil / distilled water mixture using a platinum electrode.
Exchangeable bases were determined for 1 M CH3COONH4 (pH 7.0) extracts by atomic
absorption spectrophotometry, and cation exchangeable capacity (CEC) was determined
according to the semi-micro Schollenberger method (Committee of Soil Environmental
Analysis, 1997).Water-soluble ions were extracted in a 1:5 air-dried soil / distilled water
mixture. Cations of Ca2+, Na+, Mg2+, and K+ were determined by atomic absorption
spectrophotometry (AA-6200, Shimadzu Corp., Kyoto, Japan), and anions of SO4 2–, Cl–,
PO4 3–, and NO3– were determined by ion chromatography (7000 Series II, Yokogawa IC,
Tokyo, Japan).
3.4 Soil classifications of steppe soils
Soils of each site were classified by the WRB (FAO/ISRIC/ISSS, 1998) based on
soil profile morphology and physico-chemical properties.
3.5 Isotopic variation of soil organic matter and pedogenic carbonate at steppe soils
3.5.1 Materials
Soil samples were air dried and were re-grained and passed through 0.2 mm
mesh sieve. Soil samples for the measurement of δ13C value of soil organic matter and
pedogenic carbonate as well as Δ14C value of pedogenic carbonate were selected based
on the organic and inorganic carbon contents. Soil samples obtained from A horizons at
the study sites were forδ13C measurement of soil organic matter (BGN, A1/A2/AB; JGH,
A1/A2; KBU, A1/A2; UDH, A1/A2; DH, A1/A2), and those from Bk horizons at the study
sites were for δ13C and Δ14C measurement of pedogenic carbonate (BGN, AB/Bk1;
JGH, Bk1/Bk2; KBU, Bk1/Bk2; UDH, Bk1/Bk2/Bk3; DH, Bk1/Bk2/Bk3).
3.5.2 Measurement of δ13C of soil organic matter
Samples containing ca. 0.1 mg of carbon were weighed into tin capsules. They
were combusted in an elemental analyzer (Fison EA-1108), and combustion product
(CO2) was directly introduced into mass spectrometer (Finigan MAT 252). The A horizon
sample from the BG site was pre-treated by 1 M phosphoric acid to remove carbonate.
3.5.3 Measurement of δ13C of pedogenic carbonate
The samples about 100 μg of carbon were weighed into the vials in air, and
they were sealed using septa. Residual air was removed from the sample vials by He
flushing, and sample tray temperature was maintained at 72 ℃ until the end of the
measurement in Gasbench Ⅱ
(Finigan Inc.). The phosphoric acid (Merck,
Ortho-Phosphoric acid, 99 %), which has the same temperature with soil samples, was
injected into each vials. The reaction time of 60 minutes was used. Released CO2 was
directly introduced into a high-resolution isotope-ratio mass spectrometer (Finigan
MAT 252).
3.5.4 Measurement of Δ14C of pedogenic carbonate
The soil samples were reacted with 85% phosphoric acid under a high vacuum
to produce CO2, and they were then reduced to graphite by being reacted with hydrogen
in the presence of highly pure iron (Vogel et al., 1984). The Δ14C value was determined
by the Micro Analysis Laboratory of the Tandem-Accelerator Mass Spectrometry
(MALT-AMS) system at The University of Tokyo (Matsuzaki et al., 2004).
3.5.5 Calculation of δ13C and Δ14C
δ13C were reported following Eq (2) with respect to a standard.:
δ13C (‰) = [ (R sample – R standard) / R standard] × 1000
where R is the ratio of
12C/13C
(2)
in the samples or standard. C standard was normalized
with Pee Dee Belemnite (PDB). Standard deviation of determined δ 13C value ＜
0.1 ‰.
δ14C were reported following Eq.(3):
δ14C（‰）=｛14Rsample(-25) / 14R standard－１｝×1000
where
14R
is the ratio of
14C
/
12C
in the samples or standard. The
(3)
14Rstanderd
is the
absolute value in the isotopic standard (NIST HoxⅡ, oxalic acid) corrected to 1950.
Then, Δ14C were reported follow Eq.(4), which corrected to values corresponding toδ13C
= -25 ‰, where δ13C was given Eq.(2).
Δ14C（‰）=δ14C－2（δ13C+25）×（１+δ14C / 1000）
(4)
4. DATA DESCRIPTION
4.1. Table Definition with Comments.
4.1.1 Major plant species of the steppe sites
Per(perennial species), Ann (annual species), PFTs(plant function type (Pyankov et al.,
2000; Liu and Wang, 2006))
4.1.2 Brief description of the soil profile morphology
Root size was designated as VF, F, M and C for very fine, fine, medium, and coarse root,
respectively and the quantity is abbreviated as VF, F, C and M for very few, few,
common, and many, respectively. Carbonate was designated as non-calcareous (N),
slightly calcareous (SL), moderately calcareous (MO), strongly calcareous (ST) and
extremely calcareous (EX). Hardness was measurement by Yamanaka type
penetrometer and converted to pressure resistance.
4.1.3 Physico- chemical characteristics and isotopic variations of steppe soils
OC(organic carbon content), IC(inorganic carbon content), N(nitrogen content), tr(trace)
4.2. Type of Data
3) Physico- chemical characteristics and isotopic variations of steppe soils
Parameter
Units
Equipments/Methods
Bulk density
Mg m-3
the actual volumetric method
Solid phase
%
the actual volumetric method
Liquid phase
%
the actual volumetric method
Gaseous phase
%
the actual volumetric method
Symbol
Hydraulic conductivity
10-3cms-1
the
falling-head
permeability
method
Organic carbon
g kg-1
the dry combustion method using
an
NC
analyzer
(Sumigraph
NC-900,
Sumika
Chemical
OC
Analysis Service, Tokyo, Japan)
Inorganic carbon
g kg-1
the wet combustion method (Clark
IC
and Ogg, 1942)
Nitrogen
g kg-1
the dry combustion method using
an
NC
analyzer
(Sumigraph
NC-900,
Sumika
Chemical
N
Analysis Service, Tokyo, Japan)
pH(H2O)
1:2.5 air-dried soil / distilled water,
a glass electrode pH meter
EC
dSm-1
1:5 air-dried soil / distilled water, a
platinum electrode
Exchangeable base
cmol(+)kg-1
atomic
absorption
spectrophotometry
(AA-6200,
Shimadzu Corp., Kyoto, Japan)
Cation
exchangeable
cmol(+)kg-1
capacity
the
semi-micro
method
Schollenberger
(Committee
of
CEC
Soil
Environmental Analysis, 1997)
Water soluble cations
cmol(+)kg-1
atomic
absorption
spectrophotometry
(AA-6200,
Shimadzu Corp., Kyoto, Japan)
Water soluble anions
cmol(-)kg-1
ion chromatography (7000 Series
II, Yokogawa IC, Tokyo, Japan)
5) Isotopic variation of soil organic matter and pedogenic carbonate at steppe soils
Parameter
Units
Sampling depth
cm
δ
13C
value
of
soil
‰
organic matter
δ13C value of pedogenic
carbonate
Symbol
Depth
mass spectrometer (Finigan MAT
d13CSOM
252)
‰
carbonate
⊿14C value of pedogenic
Equipments/Methods
mass spectrometer (Finigan MAT
d13CPC
252)
‰
andem-Accelerator
Spectrometry
Mass
(MALT-AMS)
D14CPC
system, The University of Tokyo
(Matsuzaki et al., 2004))
5. REFERENCES
5.1. Methodology references
Clark, N. A. and Ogg, C. L . 1942. A wet combustion method for determining total
carbon in soils. Soil Sci. 53, 27-35.
Committee of Flora of Inner Mongolia, 1994. Flora of Inner Mongolia 2nd edition. Inner
Mongolian popular Press. Huhhot, 5 vol. (in Chinese)
FAO, 1990. Guideline for Soil Description 3rd edition. FAO, Rome, 70 pp.
FAO/ISRIC/ISSS, 1998. World reference base for soil resources. World Soil References
Reports 84, FAO, Rome, 88 pp.Committee of Soil Environment Analysis, 1997.
Methods for soil environment analysis. Hakuyu-sya, Tokyo. 427 pp. (in Japanese)
Liu, X.Q., Wang, R.Z. 2006. Photosynthetic pathway and morphological functional types
in the vegetation from North-Beijing agro-pastral ecotone, China. Photosynthetica
44, 365-386.
Matsuzaki, H., Nakano, C., Yamashita, H., Maejima, Y., Miyairi, Y., Wakasa, S.,
Horiuchi, K. 2004. Current status and future direction of MALT, The University of
Tokyo. Nucl. Instr. Meth. B 223-224, 92-99.
Numata, M. 1987. Papers on plant ecology. Tokai Univ. Press, Tokyo, pp.50-167. (in
Japanese)
Pyankov, V.I., Gunin, P.D., Tsoog, S., Black, C.C. 2000. C4 plants in the vegetation of
Mongolia: their natural occurrence and geographic distribution in relation to climate.
Oecologia 123, 15-31.
Yamamoto, Y., Kirita, H., Ohga, N., Saito, Y. 1995. Extended summed dominance ratio.
E-SDR. For comparison of grassland vegetation. Grassl. Sci. 41, 37-41. (in
Japanese
with English abstr.)
Vogel, J.S., Southon, J.R., Nelson D.E., Brown T.A. 1984. Performance of catalyticcally
condensed carbon for use in accelerator mass spectrometry. Nucl. Instr. Meth. B 5,
289-293.
5.2. Journal Articles and Study Reports
Asano Maki, Tamura Kenji, Kawada Hidekazu, Higashi Teruo, 2007: Morphological and
physico-chemical characteristics of soils in a steppe region of the Kherlen River basin,
Mongolia. Jornal of Hydrology, 333, 100-108.
Maki Asano, Kenji Tamura, Yuji Maejima, Hiroyuki Matsuzaki, Teruo Higashi, 2007:
The Δ 14C variations of pedogenic carbonate in steppe soils under vegetation sequence
in Mongolia. Nucl. Instr. Meth. B In Press.