TITLE:
Soil Carbon Storage in Experimental Forest Plantations with Tropical Species
AUTHORS:
Celia De La Mora-Orozco, José Germán Flores Garnica, Irma Julieta González Acuña, Juan De Dios Benavides Solorio, César S. Magaña Martínez, Laura Izascum Pérez Valencia
KEYWORDS:
Carbon Sequestration, Dasometric Variables, Tropical Trees
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Forestry,
Vol.12 No.1,
November
16,
2021
ABSTRACT: Forest ecosystems represent a third of the total organic carbon (TOC)
stored in the soil. However, studies still need to be carried out to generate
reliable information on its soil carbon storage potential in an experimental
plantation. Therefore, the objective of this research was to determine the
storage of total organic carbon (TOC) in the soil in two experimental forest
plantations with tropical species, located in the state of Nayarit, México. The
research was carried out in two experimental plantations with tropical species,
located at the Santiago Ixcuintla Experimental Field (CESIX) and at the El
Verdine?o Experimental Site (SEEV). The established species are Swietenia macrophylla King (mahogany), Cedrela odorata L. (cedar) and Tabebuia rosea Bertoil (pink trumpet-tree). In addition, data from dasometric variables were
used in order to define if any of these variables had a similar variation to
the soil TOC stock by species. The sampling was done under a randomized block
experimental design in each experimental forest plantation (CESIX and SEEV).
Nine composite samples were collected in the soil under the tree species at a
depth of 0 - 30 cm, and 1.5 m distance from the tree. To determine the soil
TOC, an elemental analyzer with a thermal conductivity detector Thermo
Scientific (Flash 2000) was used. The results showed that TOC presented mean
values of 103.60 and 219.98 t·ha-1 at a depth of 0 - 30 cm in CESIX
and SEEV respectively. The highest TOC was obtained in soil under mahogany; 142.95 t·ha-1 in CESIX and 284.41
t·ha-1 in SEEV. The analysis of the differences in TOC between the
two plantations was highly significant. In the analysis of the species, it
showed a statistically significant difference (p