Soil carbon stock in Cambodian monsoon forests

Abstract

We studied the relationships among the soil C stock in tropical monsoon forests, the type of forest, and the environmental factors in the lower Mekong basin in Cambodia. We analyzed nine soil profiles in evergreen and deciduous forests growing over sedimentary rock and basalt. Evergreen forest soils tended to have a larger C stock than deciduous forest soils within geological formations. In evergreen and deciduous forest soils, carbon stocks were 56.9 ± 30.0 (mean ± SD) and 34.9 ± 23.5 Mg C ha-1, respectively, in the 0- to 30-cm depth range, and 108.7 ± 53.0 and 53.2 ± 30.4 Mg C ha-1, respectively, in the 0- to 100-cm depth range. Soil C stock was highly positively correlated with soil water content in the dry season, which is likely affected by the openness of the forest canopy and by soil clay content. © 2011 JIRCAS.