Estimation of Carbon Dynamics in Decomposition of Pruning Material

Abstract

In order to estimate the amount of carbon dioxide emission from pruning materials which were spread over the soil surface, we investigated the characteristics of carbon mineralization in pruning materials. We continuously measured carbon dioxide evolution from the powdery pruning materials mixed with soil as source of microbe under optimum conditions for microbial growth for fifty one days, and estimated C mineralization potential in pruning materials using kinetics modeling. It is estimated that 17 - 19% of carbon contained in pruning materials was mineralized over the fifty one-day period. From the result and previous studies, the estimated percentages of residue, humified and mineralized carbon originally contained in the pruning materials were approximately 50%, 30% and 20% respectively.