Soil Organic Carbon Stocks along Altitudinal Gradient under Shorea robusta Gaertn. F. Plantations in Darjeeling Himalayas Arshad A.*, Singh Manendra, Tamang Mendup, Kanchan, Shahina N.N.1, Vineeta, Banik Ganesh Chandra2, Shukla Gopal3, Chakravathy Sumit Department of Forestry, Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Pundibari-736 165, India 1Rain Forest Research Institute, Jorhat-785 010, India 2Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Pundibari-736 165, India 3Department of Forestry, North Eastern Hill University, Tura Campus, Tura-794 002, India *E-mail: arshadathikkayi@gmail.com
Online Published on 20 February, 2024. Abstract The carbon storage potentiality of forest land use systems has been recognized as a major factor in the recent climate change scenario. The current study was designed to quantify the soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks at three soil depths (0-20 cm, 20-40 cm and 40-60 cm) in Shorea robusta Gaertn. f. (Sal) plantations along the elevation gradients of 150-300 m, 300-450 m, 450-600 m and 600-750 m in the Darjeeling Himalayas. There was an increasing trend of SOC stock along the elevation gradient, reaching the maximum stock (67.53 Mg C ha-1) at the mid elevational range of 450-600 m at the surface soil layer and the minimum (26.81Mg C ha-1) at 150-300 m. The highest elevational range (600-750 m) was quantified with significantly lesser SOC stock (51.01 Mg C ha-1) than 450-600 m elevational range. Correlation between elevation gradient and SOC stock exhibited moderate positive relationship between the two (R2 = 0.485). Top Keywords SOC stock, Sal plantations, Elevation gradient, Darjeeling Himalayas. Top |