Total and labile pools of soil organic carbon in cultivated and undisturbed soils in northern India

Publication date: January 2015
Source:Geoderma, Volumes 237–238
Author(s): Dinesh K. Benbi , Kiranvir Brar , Amardeep S. Toor , Pritpal Singh
Labile fractions of soil organic matter (SOM) have been used as indicators for land use induced changes in soil quality. Differences in soil C pools under row crop production and uncultivated soils may provide information about soil C sequestration. The impact of agroforestry consisting of poplar with wheat, rice–wheat, maize–wheat and sugarcane agro-ecosystems on total organic carbon (TOC) and labile pools, viz. water-extractable (WEOC), hot water-soluble (HWC), KMnO4-oxidizable, microbial biomass and mineralizable C; and organic C fractions of different oxidizability was studied at 22-sites for each land use. Cultivation resulted in decrease in TOC (21–36%) and dehydrogenase activity (by 2.8–3.4mgkg⁻¹ soilh⁻¹) compared to uncultivated soils. Labile C pools, except WEOC, were correlated (P<0.05), though the amount extracted by different methods varied considerably suggesting that each method enumerated different fractions of TOC. Agroforestry and sugarcane systems were characterized by very labile C compared with uncultivated soils and the soils under rice–wheat and maize–wheat systems. Conversely, uncultivated soils and the soils under maize–wheat and rice–wheat held greater proportion of organic C in recalcitrant fractions. Results suggest that soil organic C (SOC) pools in agroforestry and sugarcane systems could be decomposed under land use alterations. However, no single soil C pool alone was suitable as a sensitive indicator for land use induced changes in SOM. A composite of soil indicators encompassing labile C, KMnO4-oxidizable C, non-labile and recalcitrant C, mineralizable C, basal soil respiration, and dehydrogenase activity could distinguish different land use systems.