Abstract
This paper reports the findings of a research conducted in Kankali community forest, Chitwan, Nepal, to quantify the vertical distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC) and nitrogen in 1 m soil profile depth. This community forest represents a tropical Shorea robusta-dominated community forest. It was found that the soil had 122.36 t/ha SOC and 12.74 t/ha nitrogen in 1 m soil profile in 2012, with 0.99% soil organic matter and 0.10% nitrogen concentration in average. Carbon and nitrogen ratio (C/N ratio) of the soil was found to be 9.90. Both bulk density and C/N ratio were found increasing with increase in soil depth. The SOC and nitrogen were found significantly different across different soil layers up to 1 m soil profile depth. The average pH of the forest soil was found to be 5.3. Looking into the values of stocks of SOC and nitrogen, it is concluded that Kankali community forest has played a role in global climate change mitigation by storing considerable amounts of SOC. Involvement of local community in management of tropical forest cannot be overlooked in the process of climate change mitigation.
Highlights
Soils are considered as viable sinks of atmospheric carbon (C) and may significantly contribute to climate change mitigation [1,2,3]
Soil pH and C/N ratio are considered as major factors in the soil microbial structure and activities [8,9,10]. e C/N ratio may be treated as an approximate indicator of the quality of organic matter inflowing to forest soils and of its transformation to soil organic carbon (SOC)
SOC in subsoil horizons has become the subject of intensive research only in recent years because it was recognised that subsoil carbon contributes greatly to the total carbon stocks within a soil profile [15]
Summary
Soils are considered as viable sinks of atmospheric carbon (C) and may significantly contribute to climate change mitigation [1,2,3]. Soils store a large share of organic carbon—twice more than vegetation and two-thirds more than the atmosphere [3] Soils serve as both source and sink of CO2. Soil nitrogen (N) stocks and carbon-nitrogen ratio (C/N ratio) are considered as indicators of carbon sequestration potential in soils [6, 7]. Previous studies (e.g., [13]) primarily focused on the topsoil carbon stock, and carbon dynamics in deeper soil layers and driving factors behind vertical distributions of SOC remain poorly understood [14]. Us, improved knowledge of distribution of SOC and nitrogen across different soil depths is essential to determine whether carbon in deep soil layers will react to global change and accelerate the increase in atmospheric Many previous studies on the topsoil layers, i.e., 0–20 cm or slightly more [20, 21], are indication for need for studies on deeper soil layers. us, improved knowledge of distribution of SOC and nitrogen across different soil depths is essential to determine whether carbon in deep soil layers will react to global change and accelerate the increase in atmospheric
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