Dark fixation of carbon dioxide in an agricultural soil

Dark fixation of carbon dioxide was monitored in an agricultural soil in northeast Georgia from December 1981 through December 1982. Carbon fixation, based on the rate of radiolabeled CO2 incorporation, varied from 0.2 to 4.8 mg m-2 h-1. Stepwise regression analysis indicated that dark fixation was positively correlated with the rate of carbon dioxide evolution and soil temperature and was inversely correlated with irradiance. Total annual dark fixation of carbon was estimated to be 15 g m-2