Comparison of organic carbon stocks in soils with different uses

Bc. Saven Thai

Master's thesis

Abstract:

Soil plays an important role in organic carbon stock. Organic carbon stock also depends on different types of land use. Thus the study was aimed to estimate and compare the soil organic carbon stock (SOCs) under different land uses (cropland, grassland, and forestland) and depths (0-10 cm, 10-20 cm, and 20-30 cm) in the Czech Republic. Ninety samples of disturbed soil and 30 samples of undisturbed soil were collected within different land uses and within different depths. The content of soil organic carbon (SOC) was determined by modified Tyurin method. Soil bulk density, porosity, water retention were determined on the samples as well as some chemical characteristics such as pH. In addition, SOC stock was calculated. The data was subjected to statistical analysis through SPSS version 20. The results showed that pHH2O is significantly different among the land uses. Cropland had highest values with the range from 7.38 to 7.46, followed by grassland range 6.64 to 6.83 and forestland range from 4.62 to 4.47, respectively. The bulk density among the three land uses is also significantly different; cropland had the highest bulk density, followed by grassland and forestland, 1.59 g/cm3, 1.52 g/cm3, and 1.42 g/cm3, respectively. Additionally, the stock of soil organic carbon is statistically different for the first depth (0-10 cm) and 20-30 cm, while the depth 10-20 cm showed no difference among the land uses. However, the total SOCs was significantly different in the whole sampled depth 0-30 cm where forestland retained the highest amount of organic carbon compared to grassland and cropland, 116.31 t/ha, 79.02 t/ha, and 61.57 t/ha, respectively.

Keywords

Soil organic carbon, Land uses, Sequestration, Bulk density

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 12. 4. 2019

Thesis defence

• Supervisor: prof. Dr. Ing. Luboš Borůvka

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources

Master programme / field:
Natural Resources and Environment / Natural Resources and Environment