Soil Carbon Distribution in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

1. Total Carbon Distribution in the Pinnacle Series Total Carbon Distribution in the Luftee Series Total Carbon Distribution in the Cheoah Series Total C % Total C % 50 55 60 0 2 4 6 8 Total Carbon Distribution in the Ditney Series Total Carbon Distribution in the Guyot Series 0 0 Total C % Total Carbon % 10 10 Total C % 0 2 4 6 1 2 3 4 0 0 20 0 0 10 20 20 0 10 30 30 20 Depth cm 50 40 Depth cm 30 40 50 50 40 Ditney Cheoah Depth cm Depth cm 50 50 100 60 Depth cm Pinnacle 60 60 100 70 70 150 80 70 80 90 150 80 90 100 200 200 Dysic, frigid Typic Udifolist Coarse-loamy, mixed, semiactive, mesic typic Dystrudepts Fine-loamy, isotic, mesic Humic Dystrudept Guyot Luftee Fine-loamy, isotic, frigid Humic Dystrudepts Loamy-skeletal, isotic, frigid Humic Dystrudepts GSMNP LOCATION Soil Carbon Distribution in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Anthony Khiel and Doug Thomas, USDA-NRCS Tennessee and North Carolina Introduction A soil resource inventory of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) was completed in 2007. The GSMNP is located in eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina and covers an area of approximately 210,000 hectares. Elevations range from 300 to over 2000 meters. This inventory was constructed to address the inventory and monitoring needs of the National Park Service staff that has the responsibility of protecting and managing the Park. Monitoring environmental changes over time is a major function of this staff in the GSMNP. Soil carbon and its compositional changes over time can be used to track environmental changes that affect the Park. Discussion During the course of this inventory, 72 soil pedon were sampled and total carbon was determined on each horizon sampled. These sites included both mesic and frigid soils across the various parent materials that can be found in the Park. In general, soil carbon content was highest in the surface layers and increased with increasing elevation. At elevations below 1280 meters, slope aspect had an effect on soil carbon contents, with north aspects having higher carbon contents than south aspects. Concave slopes have higher carbon contents than convex slopes. Above 1280 meters, there was no noticeable affect of aspect on soil carbon contents. Conclusion The GSMNP is the last, large-scale expanse of protected area in the southeast United States and serves as vast carbon sink in this area. Disturbance of this area, especially at high elevations, would diminish the ability of this environment to sequester carbon and would take many decades to recover. These types of issues need to be addressed in current soil inventorying projects as the environmental impacts of natural and man-induced activities are managed. USDA Nondiscrimination Statement The USDA prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. The authors would like to thank the soils staff in Tennessee and North Carolina for their assistance in the field with this project. We would like to thank David McMillen, NRCS-TN, for help with graphics.