Soil organic carbon exchange due to the change in land use

Abstract

This study analyses the decrease in soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks due to changes in land use following the earthquake in Düzce, Turkey, 1999. The primary objective of the study is to determine the changes in land use within Düzce and to provide a multi-dimensional approach to the spatial and quantitative distributions of SOC losses. Corine Land Use- Land Cover (LULC) within the study is used to determine the change in land use. The loss of LULC and carbon stocks were identified by means of LULC with transfer matrix method and GIS-based analysis. The study of land-use change caused by urbanisation and agricultural activity shows that the limited green spaces around the urban core created by degrading natural areas do not compensate for the loss of SOC. SOC stocks decline after the land use changes from agricultural regions to artificial areas (− 5%), Natural- Semi-natural (N-SN) regions to artificial areas (− 15%), N-SN areas to agricultural areas (− 20.9%) and agricultural areas to water bodies (− 9%), and SOC stocks increase after land use changes from artificial areas to N-SN areas (+ 29.6%), artificial areas to agricultural areas (+ 8%), agricultural areas to N-SN areas (+ 25%). However, in some agricultural areas, SOC stocks are similar to semi-natural and natural areas. For instance, in sparsely vegetated areas, SOC stocks from fruit and berry plantations may be poor. Although it is generally assumed that SOC loss can occur on land transformed from natural areas, this rule of thumb may be revised in some particular circumstances. Therefore, local ecological restoration decisions should not be based on land cover generalisations.