Table 2.

Key chemical properties (mean ± one SE) of the studied peat samples, classified by land use. CL cropland, GL grassland, FL forest, NL natural land. H/C and O/C ratios are on a molar basis, C/N ratios on a per mass basis.

OM		SOC	N	H/C	O/C	C/N	Cox	OR
mg g−1
all	802.9 (6.7)	423.4 (3.5)	17.8 (0.2)	1.37 (0.01)	0.55 (<0.01)	25.7 (0.3)	−0.15 (0.01)	1.07 (−0.01)
CL	569.7 (18.6)a	311.9 (9.4)a	17.2 (0.4)a	1.47 (0.02)c	0.54 (0.01)b	17.9 (0.4)a	−0.22 (0.03)a	1.10 (0.01)b
GL	668.9 (13.9)b	357.5 (7.8)b	18.4 (0.3)b	1.46 (0.01)c	0.58 (0.01)c	19.6 (0.4)b	−0.15 (0.02)b	1.07 (<0.01)a
FL	893.3 (4.7)c	476.1 (2.8)c	17.7 (0.2)a	1.30 (0.01)a	0.54 (<0.01)b	29.6 (0.4)c	−0.12 (0.01)b	1.05 (<0.01)a
NL	953.9 (3.2)d	521.8 (3.3)d	17.1 (0.5)a	1.35 (0.01)b	0.52 (0.01)a	33.8 (1.1)d	−0.23 (0.01)a	1.08 (<0.01)b
0–0.3 m
CL	451.4 (22.4)a	230.6 (10.7)a	15.5 (0.5)a	1.53 (0.03)c	0.56 (0.02)a	14.5 (0.3)a	−0.23 (0.05)a	1.10 (0.01)b
GL	573.7 (16.9)b	290.1 (9.7)b	18.1 (0.5)b	1.54 (0.02)c	0.63 (0.01)b	16.3 (0.5)b	−0.10 (0.03)b	1.07 (0.01)a
FL	878.8 (7.3)c	459.8 (3.7)c	18.8 (0.3)b	1.32 (0.01)a	0.57 (0.01)a	26.9 (0.6)c	−0.08 (0.01)b	1.05 (<0.01)a
NL	935.4 (5.1)d	483.7 (4.2)d	15.9 (0.9)a	1.39 (0.01)b	0.59 (0.01)a	35.7 (2.8)d	−0.12 (0.02)b	1.05 (<0.01)a
>0.3 m
CL	682.9 (22.4)a	373.3 (11.2)a	18.5 (0.5)b	1.39 (0.02)c	0.52 (0.01)b	20.4 (0.5)a	−0.22 (0.02)b	1.09 (0.01)b
GL	785.4 (17.5)b	424.7 (9.8)b	18.8 (0.4)b	1.38 (0.01)c	0.53 (0.01)b	23.0 (0.5)b	−0.20 (0.02)b	1.08 (0.01)b
FL	904.8 (6.1)c	488.9 (4.0)c	16.9 (0.3)a	1.29 (0.01)a	0.52 (0.01)b	31.7 (0.6)c	−0.15 (0.01)c	1.06 (<0.01)a
NL	963.1 (3.7)d	540.8 (2.6)d	17.6 (0.6)a	1.33 (0.01)b	0.48 (<0.01)a	32.9 (1.0)c	−0.29 (0.01)a	1.09 (<0.01)c

Number (n) of all samples for SOC, N and C/N: 1310, for OM, H/C, O/C: 1166, Cox and OR: 1156; n 0–0.3 m for SOC and C/N: 581, for OM, H/C, O/C: 531, Cox and OR: 528. Cox: degree of oxidation of organic C; OR: oxidative ratio according to 28, see methods.

Letters indicate differences in values between the different land use types (LSD, p < 0.05).