Control of soil development on the Tanana River floodplain, interior Alaska

Abstract

Alluvial soils on the Tanana River floodplain near Fairbanks, Alaska, were examined for development of physical and chemical properties in relation to soil depth and across a 200-year vegetation development sequence. Development was mediated by ecosystem controls including successional time, vegetation, terrace height, soil physical and chemical properties, and microclimate. These controls interact and are conditioned by the state factors time, flora, topography, parent material, and climate, respectively. On early-successional (<5 years) lower alluvial surfaces, terrace height above groundwater, soil particle size, and microclimate (through soil surface evaporation) interacted through capillary rise to produce salt-affected surface soil. Calcium salts of carbonate and sulfate were the principal chemicals encountered in these soils. Establishment of a vegetation cover between 5 and 10 years introduced evapotranspiration as a new mechanism, along with capillarity, to control moisture suction gradients. In addition, newly formed surface litter layers further helped eliminate evaporation and formation of high salt content surface soil. Continued sedimentation raised terrace elevation, so on older terraces only infrequent flood events influenced soil development. Moreover, in these successional stages, only the highest river stages raised groundwater levels, so transpiration and capillarity influenced water movement to tree root systems. During the first 25–30 years of succession, plant deposition of organic matter and nitrogen, associated with the growth of alder, markedly changed soil properties. Nearly 60% (or 240 g•m−2) of the 400 g•m−2 nitrogen encountered at 100 years was accumulated during this early period. After 100 years of vegetation development, soil carbonate content dropped to about half the peak values of about 1600 g•m−2 encountered between 4 and 25 years. By the time white spruce was the dominant forest type at 180 years, carbonate carbon declined to about 500 g•m−2, one-third that of the 1600 g•m−2 high. By this time surface soil pH declined from high values of 7.5 to between 5.5 and 6.0. Organic carbon continued to accumulate to about 6300 g•m−2 in the white spruce stage, twice that encountered in the alder–poplar stage at 25 years. Indices of moisture retention were most strongly related to either soil particle size (low moisture tension and available moisture range) or vegetation-mediated soil organic matter content (high moisture tension). Cation exchange capacity was most strongly related to a vegetation-mediated index of organic matter (OM) content (%N, %C, or %OM).