The variation of carbon content and bulk density on different time period post fire and peat depth

Abstract

Peatland plays the biggest carbon sink and the biggest carbon stock is in the soil. The main factors determining the number of carbon stock are bulk density and soil carbon content. Fire has caused the changes in the soil biophysical condition however limited study has been performed. The aim of this study is to obtain the number of carbon content and bulk density on post burning sites and various peat depth. The study was conducted on post burning peatland sites after 22 years, 16 years, 5 years and one site that has never been burnt. Two hundred and eighteen soil samples were collected up to the 5 m depth. Laboratorium analysis was carried out using Loss of Ignition method. The result showed that the average carbon content was 52.65% with the biggest carbon content was 53.98% from the site that has never been burnt. Nevertheless, the carbon content was not effected by the fire scenes. Peat depth had effect on the carbon content adjacent to the peat sub-stratum. Generally, the carbon content was lower following the distance to peat sub-stratum however the number of carbon content varied on the upper layer of peat sub-stratum. The carbon content value was different with the conversion factor of 46% or 50%, respectively. It was shown by the diversity analysis that the conversion value different with the value of carbon obtained in this research (Pvalue < 0.05). The peat bulk density was not effected by the period of fire. Generally, the bulk density was bigger following the distance to peat sub-stratum and it showed no pattern on the upper layer of the peat sub-stratum. The implication of this study emphasized that the conversion factor for peatland should be more than 50% to prevent underestimate carbon stock prediction.