Ecosystem carbon stocks and distribution under different land-uses in north central Alberta, Canada

Land-use and land cover strongly influence carbon (C) storage and distribution within ecosystems. We studied the effects of land-use on: (i) above- and belowground biomass C, (ii) soil organic C (SOC) in bulk soil, coarse- (250–2000 μm), medium- (53–250 μm) and fine-size fractions ( medium > coarse for all land-uses, except in the native aspen stand where C was uniformly distributed among soil particle-size fractions. The C stock in the coarse-size fraction was most affected by land-use change whilst the fine fractions the least. Enrichment of the natural abundances of 13C and 15N across the land-uses since time of disturbance, i.e., from agriculture to 2- and then 9-year-old hybrid poplar plantations or to grassland, suggests shifts from more labile forms of C to more humified forms of C following those land-use changes.