Soil Carbon Stock and CO2 Flux in Different Ecosystems of North-East India

Abstract

Soil carbon stock and soil CO2 flux are the major components of carbon budget and carbon cycle in the different terrestrial ecosystems of the world. Soils are the largest carbon reservoirs of the terrestrial carbon cycle. About three times more carbon is contained in soils than in the world’s vegetation and soils hold double the amount of carbon that is present in the atmosphere. Soil can be source or sink of greenhouse gases depending on land use and management. The detailed information on soil carbon stock and soil CO2 flux and its controlling factors is critical for constraining the ecosystem C-budget and for understanding the response of soils to changing land use and global climate change. Therefore, we examined the soil carbon stock and CO2 flux in the different terrestrial ecosystems, i.e. forest, bamboo and grasslands of north-east India and its controlling of biotic and abiotic factors. Soil organic carbon was found to be highest in bamboo and followed by grassland and forests whereas reverse trend was observed in rate of soil CO2 flux which was in the order of forest > grassland > bamboo forest and were influenced by biotic and abiotic factors.