Water table fluctuations and soil biogeochemistry: An experimental approach using an automated soil column system

•We present a soil column system with computer controlled water table position.•The water table fluctuations significantly impacted pore water chemistry.•The water table fluctuations enhanced soil organic carbon turnover.•The CO2 emissions are affected by the imposed water table regimes.•The water table fluctuations led to a faster depletion of soil organic matter.

SummaryWater table fluctuations significantly affect the biological and geochemical functioning of soils. Here, we introduce an automated soil column system in which the water table regime is imposed using a computer-controlled, multi-channel pump connected to a hydrostatic equilibrium reservoir and a water storage reservoir. The potential of this new system is illustrated by comparing results from two columns filled with 45 cm of the same homogenized riparian soil. In one soil column the water table remained constant at −20 cm below the soil surface, while in the other the water table oscillated between the soil surface and the bottom of the column, at a rate of 4.8 cm d−1. The experiment ran for 75 days at room temperature (25 ± 2 °C). Micro-sensors installed at −10 and −30 cm below the soil surface in the stable water table column recorded constant redox potentials on the order of 600 and −200 mV, respectively. In the fluctuating water table column, redox potentials at the same depths oscillated between oxidizing (∼700 mV) and reducing (∼−100 mV) conditions. Pore waters collected periodically and solid-phase analyses on core material obtained at the end of the experiment highlighted striking geochemical differences between the two columns, especially in the time series and depth distributions of Fe, Mn, K, P and S. Soil CO2 emissions derived from headspace gas analysis exhibited periodic variations in the fluctuating water table column, with peak values during water table drawdown. Transient redox conditions caused by the water table fluctuations enhanced microbial oxidation of soil organic matter, resulting in a pronounced depletion of particulate organic carbon in the midsection of the fluctuating water table column. Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (DGGE) revealed the onset of differentiation of the bacterial communities in the upper (oxidizing) and lower (reducing) soil sections, although no systematic differences in microbial community structure between the stable and fluctuating water table columns were detected.