Responses of the electron transfer capacity of soil humic substances to agricultural land-use types

Abstract

Humic substances (HS) are redox-active organic compounds that constitute a major fraction of natural organic matter in soils. The electron transfer capacity (ETC) of soil HS is mainly dependent on the type and abundance of redox-active functional groups in their structure. It is unclear whether or not agricultural land-use types can affect the ETC of HS in soils. In the present study, we evaluate the responses of ETCs of soil humic acids (HA) and fulvic acids (FA) to different agricultural land-use types. Our results show that both HA and FA of paddy soil showed the highest ETCs, followed by tomato soil, celery cabbage soil, grapevine soil, and myrica rubra soil, respectively. Agricultural land-use types could affect the transformation and decomposition of HS in soils, and thus further change the intrinsic chemical structures associated with ETC. Consequently, the ETC of soil HS exerts a significant difference among different agricultural land-use types. The results of this study could give insight into the roles of HS redox properties on the transport, fate, and redox conversion of organic and inorganic pollutants in different agricultural soils.