TITLE:
Evaluation of Combined Landscape Restoration Practices on Soil Organic Carbon Stocks in Semiarid Regions of Burkina Faso
AUTHORS:
Stéphanie Batchakoué Maïga-Yaleu, Abdul-Charif Cissé, Sibiry Albert Kaboré, Damien Hauswirth, Oumarou Malam Issa, Maguette Kaire, Ibrahim Bouzou Moussa, Hassan Bismarck Nacro
KEYWORDS:
Soil Organic Carbon, Improved Management, Soil Restoration, Management Practices, Semiarid Area
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Soil Science,
Vol.12 No.10,
October
26,
2022
ABSTRACT: Forest
and landscape restoration (FLR) practices have been reported to improve soil
organic carbon stocks (SOCs) and contributing to climate change mitigation.
This study aims to evaluate the impact of combined FLR practices, mainly
developed in semiarid regions, on SOCs. The SOCs, soil texture, bulk density (ρ), pH, CO2 emissions, and
herbaceous biomass were determined at a 0 - 30 cm depth. The experimental
design comprised degraded land without FLR practices and three sets of combined
FLR practices. These practices included “zaï” +
stone bunds + organic manure + assisted natural regeneration (ANR) used to
convert degraded land into forest (GF) and cropland (PARL); “zaï” +
stone bunds + crop rotation + crop/fallow successions + ANR used to convert
degraded land into cropland (OARL) and “zaï”+ stone bunds + organic manure used to convert
degraded land into cropland (KARL). SOCs were
highest (20.02 t C ha−1) under OARL compared with the other
combinations of FLR practices. SOCs increased by 99%
(+0.2 t C ha−1⋅yr−1), 58% (+0.3 t C ha−1⋅yr−1)
and 13% (+0.2 t C ha−1⋅yr−1) under GF, OARL and KARL,
respectively, and decreased by 15% (−0.1 t C ha−1⋅yr−1)
under PARL. This study provides additional information explaining SOC variation
in restored degraded land through the implementation of a combination of FLR
practices. This is useful for recommending the combination “zaï” +
stone bunds + crop rotation + crop/fallow successions + ANR to improve SOCs in
the semiarid agroecosystem.