Abstract
This study was performed to identify the environmental factors that control soil organic carbon (SOC) accumulation in the Basque Country (Northern Spain) and to evaluate the impact of land use change on SOC budget in this territory. A total of 30 samples of the organomineral horizon were taken under representative vegetation types including native forest, coniferous plantations, scrub, pasture and cultures. The edaphic variables measured were organic C content, pH, total N, available P, exchangeable H+ and Al3+, cation exchange capacity (CEC), texture, and carbonates. The substitution of the original forest with a pasture led to a significant increase in organic C content of the topsoil in all cases studied. Temperature was the main climatic factor affecting the organic C levels in soil, being the two variables negatively correlated. The CEC and texture were other key factors controlling the organic C content, which increased with CEC and decreased with total sand. Average organic C content of the organomineral horizon did not differ significantly (P <0.05) with base content of original substrate nor climate type, but it was more sensitive to climate change in the Atlantic soils than in the Mediterranean ones, where edaphic variables such as CEC and texture were important in regulating C sequestration.
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Acknowledgements
This work has been funded in part with a grant provided by the Basque Government within the program Becas para la Formación de Investigadores. We would like to thank Dr. Gerardo Besga from the Public Research Institute Neiker (Derio, Spain) for his expert advice and media supply during the field campaign, and Dr. Amelia Ortubay from IKT, SA (engineering and consultant company Nekazal Ikerketa eta Teknologia, Arkaute, Spain) for providing us with the climatic data.
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Ganuza, A., Almendros, G. Organic carbon storage in soils of the Basque Country (Spain): the effect of climate, vegetation type and edaphic variables. Biol Fertil Soils 37, 154–162 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-003-0579-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-003-0579-4