Soil organic carbon variation under sub-tropical forest of Himachal Pradesh, India

Abstract

It is important to estimate soil organic carbon (SOC)content of natural forests for an understanding of theHimalayan ecosystem. In this study SOC concentrationwas evaluated at three different soil depths (0–10,10–20 and 20–30 cm) under Anogeissus latifolia (site I)and Pinus roxburghii (site II) forest stands in HimachalPradesh, India. SOC (%) in these forests rangedfrom 0.37% to 2.20% up to 30 cm soil depth and washigher at site I compared to site II. Tree density wasalso more at site I than site II. The present studyshows that the tree species can influence SOC of theforest ecosystem, but other environmental parameterssuch as soil type, moisture and pH are also responsiblefor changes in the soil carbon sequestration potential.Carbon sequestration in the study area showed significantcontribution in minimizing the increase in carbondioxide in the atmosphere and improving soil quality