Part of the Carbon in Global Boreal and Alpine Soils Under Climate Change-Driven Land Use fellowship sampling.

FiBL, Switzerland

Soils were collected from two sites: the FiBL DOK trials at Therwil, south of Basel (40-year-old conventional vs organic trials), and Landquart (an alpine valley on the upper Rhine), chosen due to a lack of native alpine vegetation and abandoned land near the DOK trials.

Basel (DOK) had samples for Native (forest), pasture, and two types of wheat (pure mineral fertilizer, and mineral fertilizer with manure). The DOK trials were on flat valley-bottom land, while adjacent pasture and native forest were on the side of a hill. The trials grow a fixed 40-year rotation including maize, soybean, green manure, potatoes, and winter wheat; only the 2022 wheat plots were sampled. Substantial published data exists on the DOK trials.

Landquart had samples for Native (forest), abandoned/native alpine meadow, pasture (grazed), and wheat. The land was slightly rolling, with the abandoned/native alpine meadow on small hillocks. Forest was a mixture of coniferous and deciduous trees of mixed maturity. Pasture was lush and grazed by horses and sheep. Soil at Basel was loess; soil at Landquart was alluvial Rhine River or eroded alpine material, rockier and much more influenced by the close presence of the Alps. Sampling was performed within one day at each location, with refrigeration before processing.