Estimating active carbon for soil quality assessment: A simplified method for laboratory and field use
Abstract
A simple method of estimating changes in biologically active soil carbon (C) could help evaluate soil quality impacts of alternative management practices. Most reports of permanganate for active C determination use highly concentrated solutions (0.333 M) that are difficult to work with and tend to react with a large fraction of soil C that is not well distinguished from total organic C. We report on a highly simplified method in which dilute, slightly alkaline KMnO 4 reacts with the most readily oxidizable (active) forms of soil C, converting Mn(VII) to Mn(II), and proportionally lowering absorbance of 550 nm light. The amount of soil C that reacted increased with concentration of KMnO4 used (0.01 to 0.1 M), degree of soil drying (moist fresh soil to air-dried for 24 hour) and time of shaking (1–15 minutes). Shaking of air-diy soil in a 0.02 M KMnO 4 solution for 2 minutes produced consistent and management-sensitive results, both in the laboratory and with a field kit that used a hand-held colorimeter. Addition of 0.1 M. CaCl 2 to the permanganate reagent enhanced settling of the soil after shaking, eliminating the need for centrifugaron in the field kit. Results from the laboratory and field-kit protocols were nearly identical (R 2 = 0.98), as were those from an inter-laboratory sample exchange (R 2 = 0.91). The active soil C measured by the new procedure was more sensitive to management effects than total organic C, and more closely related to biologically mediated soil pr…
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“The POXC, a biochemical soil health indicator, was measured as described by [27].”
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- Authors
- Weil, R. R., Islam, K. R., Stine, M. A., Gruver, J. B., & Samson-Liebig, S. E.
- Affiliations
- University of Maryland, College Park (US)
- ORCID
- Weil, Ray R.
- Venue
- American Journal of Alternative Agriculture
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2003-03
- Volume
- 18
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 3-17
- ISSN
- 0889-1893 (ISSN-L)
- 1478-5498
- OpenAlex
- W2131190889
- Cited by
- 968
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 139 · 2025: 122 · 2024: 41 · 2023: 54 · 2022: 46 · 2021: 76 · 2020: 65 · 2019: 61 · 2018: 55 · 2017: 50 · 2016: 40 · 2015: 35 · 2014: 29 · 2013: 33 · 2012: 29
- FWCI
- 7.69
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems (publishedVersion)
- Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil Management and Crop Yield
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil Science and Environmental Management
- Keywords
- potassium permanganate oxidation, soil quality assessment, soil organic carbon, field kit, soil management, soil respiration, microbial biomass, soil aggregation, soil drying, calcium chloride
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