Rapid assessment of soil organic matter: Soil color analysis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

• Geographical region, land use and management intensity may affect SOM content and composition.
• 300 German soils were characterized by color analyses and FTIR spectroscopy.
• Geographical region and land use affected soil color (L*a*b*) and SOM composition (FTIR based).
• Environmental effects which may affect SOM composition can be deduced from soil color.
• Only weak correlations between SOM parameters and management indices were detected.

Soil organic matter (SOM) content and composition may be affected by geographic region, land use (grassland vs. forest) and management intensity (intensive vs. extensive). To asses these effects SOM of 300 German soils was characterized using soil color analyses (L*,a*,b*-values) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Soil lightness (L*-value) was strongly negatively correlated with the soil organic carbon content and this relationship was stronger when the previously sieved soils were ground. Using the band at wavenumber 1634 cm− 1 (as determined by FTIR) as a proxy for aromaticity of SOM the L*-value was negatively correlated with aromaticity. Geographic region as well as land use affected L*-, a*- and b*-values. FTIR results suggested that particularly amides and polysaccharides were affected by geographic region, while mainly polysaccharides were affected by land use. We conclude that soil color analysis can provide additional information on environmental circumstances/site effects which may affect SOM composition. A few only weak correlations of soil color/SOM composition parameters with management intensity indicate that either changes in SOM parameters were too small or that the applied management indices were not sensitive enough to management effects.