Year 2022, Volume 7, Issue 3
| Year : | 2022 |
| Volume : | 7 |
| Issue : | 3 |
| Authors : | Gediminas SURVILA, Iveta VARNAGIRYTĖ-KABAŠINSKIENĖ |
| Title : | DOES SOIL TILLAGE BEFORE AFFORESTATION CONTRIBUTE TO HIGHER CARBON STOCKS? |
| Abstract : | Afforestation of former agricultural land contributes to the higher carbon (C) stocks in aboveground biomass and dead organic matter. Soils contain major C stocks and are of great importance for C sequestration. Soil preparation prior to planting tree seedlings, especially if deep soil cultivation is applied, causes significant disturbances in the soil profile. Therefore, the afforestation can alter organic C budgets, both in soil and forest biomass. This study analyzed the influence of deep soil tillage up to 40–60 cm depth on the SOC stocks in Arenosols (20 years post afforestation) and Planosols (10 years post afforestation) of Scots pine plantations in comparison to non-ploughed soils in naturally regenerated Scots pine stands. The samples of forest floor and mineral soil in different layers up to 80 cm depth were analyzed. The results showed no differences in forest floor C contents between deep ploughing and non-ploughed sites. The SOC stocks increased at deeper mineral soil layers in relation to the upper mineral soil layers. The total SOC stocks, calculated by summing the SOC values obtained in forest floor and mineral soil layers up to 80 cm depth, were higher in deep ploughing sites than in non-ploughed sites. Therefore, this demonstrated the positive effect of deep soil tillage not only on SOC retaining in the deeper soil layers but also showed the continuous SOC accumulation in the new topsoil. Potentially, soil C sequestration in the deeper layers for a longer period could also be important in the context of climate change. |
| For citation : | Survila, G., Varnagirytė-Kabašinskienė, I. (2022). Does soil tillage before afforestation contribute to higher carbon stocks? AGROFOR International Journal, Volume 7. Issue No. 3 pp. 47-54. DOI: 10.7251/AGRENG2203047S |
| Keywords : | deep ploughing, organic carbon, carbon concentration, carbon stock. |
| download paper | |
ISSN 2490-3434 (Printed)
ISSN 2490-3442 (Online)
ISSN 2490-3442 (Online)
For authors
For reviewers
Search
AgroSym Symposium Archive