Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Stocks Under Plantations in Gambo District,Southern Ethiopia |
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| Authors: | Ambachew Demessie Bal Ram Singh Rattan Lal |
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| Institution: | 1. Hawassa University, College of Agriculture , Hawassa, Ethiopia dambachew@yahoo.com;3. Department of Plant and Environmental Science , Norwegian University of Life Sciences (UMB) , ?s, Norway;4. Ohio State University, Carbon Management &5. Sequestration Center , Columbus, Ohio, USA |
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| Abstract: | The effect of six plantation species in comparison to natural forest (NF) on soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) stocks, depth-wise distribution, biomass carbon (C), and N was investigated on plantations and cultivated lands on an Andic paleudalf soil in Southern Ethiopia. The SOC, N, and bulk density were determined from samples taken in 4 replicates from 10-, 20-, 40-, 60-, and 100-cm depth under each site. Similarly, the biomass C and N of the plantation species and understory vegetation were also determined. The SOC and N were concentrated in the 0- to 10-cm depth and decreased progressively to the 1-m depth. Next to the NF, Juniperous procera accrued higher SOC and N in all depths than the corresponding plantations. No evidence of significant difference on SOC and N distribution among plantations was observed below the 10-cm depth with minor exceptions. The plantations accrue from 133.62 to 213.73 Mg ha–1 or 59.1 to 94.5% SOC, 230.4 to 497.3 Mg ha–1 or 6.9 to 14.9% TBC and 420.37 to 672.80 Mg ha–1 or 12.5 to 20% total C-pool of that under the NF. The N stock under Juniperous procera was the highest, while the lowest was under Eucalyptus globulus and Cupressus lusitanica. We suggest that SOC and N sequestration can be enhanced through mixed cropping and because the performance of the native species Juniperous procera is encouraging, it should be planted to restock its habitat. |
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| Keywords: | soil organic carbon (SOC) soil nitrogen (N) natural forest (NF) total biomass carbon (TBC) plantation forest Ethiopia |
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