Assessment of Soil Organic Carbon in Tropical Agroforests in the Churiya Range of Makawanpur, Nepal

Abstract

This paper reports the findings of a research study conducted in three tropical agroforestry systems in the Makawanpur district of Nepal, to quantify the spatial and vertical distribution of soil organic carbon in 30 cm soil profile depth in agrisilviculture, home garden, and silvopasture. The three agroforestry systems represent tropical agroforests of Nepal. It was found that the soil had 24.91 t/ha soil organic carbon in 30 cm soil profile in 2018, with 2.1% soil organic matter concentration in average. Bulk density was found increasing with an increase in soil depth. The soil organic carbon was not found significantly different across different agroforestry systems. Looking into the values of stocks of soil organic carbon, it is concluded that the tropical agroforests have played a role in global climate change mitigation by storing considerable amounts of soil organic carbon and the storage capacity can further be increased. Involvement of farmers in the management of tropical agroforests cannot be ignored in the process of climate change mitigation.

Carbon sequestration potential of community forests: A comparative analysis of soil organic carbon stock in community managed forests of Far-Western Nepal

“…Meanwhile, UN-REDD ( 2014) indicated that REDD+ may bring between $20-86 million per year to Nepal. Additionally, most of the scientific work are concentrated on carbon and SOC stocks at different landscapes and community forest (Shrestha et al, 2004;Shrestha and Singh, 2008;Magar et al, 2020) However, there are very limited studies on soil carbon sequestration potential of community forest. Therefore, this study was intended to address the existing gap of literature by assessing the soil carbon sequestration potential of two community forests.…”

Potential of Melia dubia agroforestry system in soil improvement and environmental sustainability

“…Tropical agroforests have been found to play a significant part in storing organic carbon content in the soil. The total amount of organic carbon in the soil was discovered to be 24.91 tonnes per hectare (Magar et al, 2020). Agroforestry provides an approach through which in very little time organic content could be added by selection of proper nitrogen-fixing tree species and if they are fast-growing too (Tsufac et al, 2021).…”

“…Trees in agroforestry systems improve soil organic matter, N-retention, water holding capacity and infiltration rates in the soil. They help in the preservation of soil fertility through nitrogen fixation and return of organic content through leaf fall (Rosenstock et al, 2014).Soil is the biosphere's greatest reservoir of terrestrial organic carbon; it contains more carbon than the atmosphere in combination with the plants (Magar et al, 2020). The presence of agricultural systems optimizes recycling of nutrients which results in tree species having a positive effect on various soil properties.…”

Evaluating Land Sustainability Indicators Through Structural Stability Changes In Deforested Land

“…An ideal structure for soils to support crop growth must have aggregate size between 1 to 10 mm diameter. These aggregates should be stable when wet and have a good proportion of pores with diameter greater than 75µm to promote good aeration and drainage and at the same time provide an adequate volume of medium sizes pores (30 -0.2 µm) to store available water [2]. Deforestation and cultivation practices caused fragmentation in soil aggregates due to rapid wetting, and the direct impact of tillage practice which exposed protected soil organic matter to microbial attack [3].…”

“…In deforested tropical areas with highly weathered soils, less issues were observed in soil physical properties dynamics [2]. Previous research on Sumatra island show that soil physical properties are the most sensitive indicators when detecting the impact of cultivation and deforestation [4].…”