Organic matter cycling along geochemical, geomorphic, and disturbance gradients in forest and cropland of the African Tropics - Project TropSOC database version 1.0

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Sebastian Doetterl - , ETH Zurich, Augsburg University (Author)
  • Rodrigue K. Asifiwe - , Université Catholique de Bukavu (Author)
  • Geert Baert - , Ghent University (Author)
  • Fernando Bamba - , Université Catholique de Bukavu (Author)
  • Marijn Bauters - , Ghent University (Author)
  • Pascal Boeckx - , Ghent University (Author)
  • Benjamin Bukombe - , Augsburg University (Author)
  • Georg Cadisch - , University of Hohenheim (Author)
  • Matthew Cooper - , University of Hohenheim (Author)
  • Landry N. Cizungu - , Université Catholique de Bukavu (Author)
  • Alison Hoyt - , Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry (Author)
  • Clovis Kabaseke - , Mountains of the Moon University (Author)
  • Karsten Kalbitz - , Chair of Soil Resources and Land Use (Author)
  • Laurent Kidinda - , Chair of Soil Resources and Land Use (Author)
  • Annina Maier - , ETH Zurich (Author)
  • Moritz Mainka - , Augsburg University, Institut National pour L’Etude et la Recherche Agronomiques (INERA) (Author)
  • Julia Mayrock - , Augsburg University (Author)
  • Daniel Muhindo - , Université Catholique de Bukavu (Author)
  • Basile B. Mujinya - , Université de Lubumbashi (Author)
  • Serge M. Mukotanyi - , Université Catholique de Bukavu (Author)
  • Leon Nabahungu - , International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (Author)
  • Mario Reichenbach - , Augsburg University (Author)
  • Boris Rewald - , University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (Author)
  • Johan Six - , Université catholique de Louvain (Author)
  • Anna Stegmann - , Augsburg University (Author)
  • Laura Summerauer - , ETH Zurich (Author)
  • Robin Unseld - , Augsburg University (Author)
  • Bernard Vanlauwe - , International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (Author)
  • Kristof Van Oost - , Université catholique de Louvain, Belgian National Fund for Scientific Research (Author)
  • Kris Verheyen - , Ghent University (Author)
  • Cordula Vogel - , Chair of Soil Resources and Land Use (Author)
  • Florian Wilken - , ETH Zurich, Augsburg University (Author)
  • Peter Fiener - , Augsburg University (Author)

Abstract

The African Tropics are hotspots of modern-day land use change and are, at the same time, of great relevance for the cycling of carbon (C) and nutrients between plants, soils, and the atmosphere. However, the consequences of land conversion on biogeochemical cycles are still largely unknown as they are not studied in a landscape context that defines the geomorphic, geochemical, and pedological framework in which biological processes take place. Thus, the response of tropical soils to disturbance by erosion and land conversion is one of the great uncertainties in assessing the carrying capacity of tropical landscapes to grow food for future generations and in predicting greenhouse gas fluxes from soils to the atmosphere and, hence, future earth system dynamics. Here we describe version 1.0 of an open-access database created as part of the project "Tropical soil organic carbon dynamics along erosional disturbance gradients in relation to variability in soil geochemistry and land use"(TropSOC). TropSOC v1.0 (Doetterl et al., 2021, 10.5880/fidgeo.2021.009) contains spatially and temporally explicit data on soil, vegetation, environmental properties, and land management collected from 136 pristine tropical forest and cropland plots between 2017 and 2020 as part of monitoring and sampling campaigns in the eastern Congo Basin and the East African Rift Valley system. The results of several laboratory experiments focusing on soil microbial activity, C cycling, and C stabilization in soils complement the dataset to deliver one of the first landscape-scale datasets to study the linkages and feedbacks between geology, geomorphology, and pedogenesis as controls on biogeochemical cycles in a variety of natural and managed systems in the African Tropics. The hierarchical and interdisciplinary structure of the TropSOC database allows linking of a wide range of parameters and observations on soil and vegetation dynamics along with other supporting information that may also be measured at one or more levels of the hierarchy. TropSOC's data mark a significant contribution to improve our understanding of the fate of biogeochemical cycles in dynamic and diverse tropical African (agro-)ecosystems. TropSOC v1.0 can be accessed through the Supplement provided as part of this paper or as a separate download via the websites of the Congo Biogeochemistry Observatory and GFZ Data Services where version updates to the database will be provided as the project develops.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)4133-4153
Number of pages21
JournalEarth system science data
Volume13
Issue number8
Publication statusPublished - 25 Aug 2021
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

ORCID /0000-0002-6525-2634/work/167215346

Keywords

Sustainable Development Goals

ASJC Scopus subject areas