Comparison of walkley‐black and dry combustion organic carbon determinations in calcareous water‐logged north Dakota soils

There is a need for a quick, reliable method for determining organic carbon in water‐logged, northern, calcareous soils for extensive comparison and characterization. The Walkley‐Black method was compared to the laborious dry combustion method and found reliable. However, the suggested conversion factor of 1.33 is not as good as using a best fit linear regression equation. The best fit line found was: Y = 1.13X + 0.42, where Y = % total carbon by dry combustion ‐ inorganic carbon, and X is Walkley‐Black percent organic carbon, giving an r = 0.997 (p = 0.001) value.