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Soil carbon stock in typical grasslands in Japan

2009; Wiley; Volume: 55; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/j.1744-697x.2009.00145.x

1744-697X

Koji Nakagami, Masayuki Hojito, Shiro Itano, Kazunori Kohyama, Tomoko Miyaji, Aya Nishiwaki, Shoji Matsuura, Michio Tsutsumi, Shunpei Kano,

Agriculture, Soil, Plant Science

Abstract To evaluate the carbon (C) sequestration function of grassland soils in Japan, soil C stocks were measured in 24 grasslands (3–43‐year‐old pastures) across 14 livestock farms nationwide. Soil C stocks varied among soil types, and the values in the upper 25 and 50 cm were higher in Andosols (mean, 12.4 and 19.3 kg m −2 , respectively) than in Brown Forest soils (7.5 and 13.7 kg m −2 ) and other soil types (5.5 and 7.5 kg m −2 ). At the same time, C stocks varied among pastures within each soil type. Compared to data from the published work on the C content shortly after pasture establishment, aged pastures had decreasing C concentrations as the soil depth increased, suggesting substantial C accumulation in the top soil layers during pasture aging. This C accumulation caused grassland soils to store as much C as adjacent forest soils. Although the C stocks in the grassland soils were not statistically different from those in the adjacent native forest soils, some grassland areas stored greater amounts of C than the forests, indicating a possibility of increasing soil C stocks through improved grassland management.