Soil carbon pools and carbon management index under different land use systems in the Central Himalayan region

Figures & data

Table I. Some soil properties at the time of sampling in July 2009.

Land use and cropping systems	Location	Description	pH	EC (dS m^−1)	Sand (%)	Silt (%)	Clay (%)	N (%)	Available K (mg kg^−1)	TOC (g kg^−1 soil)
Oak (Quercus incana) forest	Corbet National Park, Binsar 29°39′N 79°07′E. Altitude 2400 m above sea level	Natural vegetation predominantly under oak trees	5.7	0.11	55	29	16	0.24	377.8	43.5
Fodder crops	Hawalbagh 29°36′ N longitude 70°40′ E latitude. Altitude 1250 m above sea level	Fodder crops with maize and cowpea for more than 10 years	5.9	0.05	49	27	24	0.13	112	28.8
Soya bean–wheat	Hawalbagh 29°36′ N longitude 70°40′ E latitude. Altitude 1250 m above sea level	Soya bean–wheat systems for more than 10 years	6.0	0.20	44	37	19	0.27	324	21.7
Organic farming	Hawalbagh 29°36′ N longitude 70°40′ E latitude. Altitude 1250 m above sea level	Field with organic manures under vegetables for more than 10 years	6.2	0.25	58	31	11	0.27	298	27.5
Barren land	Hawalbagh 29°36′ N longitude 70°40′ E latitude. Altitude 1250 m above sea level	Barren land mostly denuded with sparse vegetation	6.1	0.13	52	32	16	0.12	189	17.4

Table II. Seasonal changes on total organic C (TOC), microbial biomass C (MBC), particulate organic C (POC), and KMnO₄ oxidizable C (i.e., labile) at different depths under different land use systems in the Central Himalayan region. The means followed by different letters are significantly different at p < 0.05, according to Duncan's multiple range test (DMRT) of means.

	TOC (g kg^−1)			MBC (mg kg^−1)			POC (g kg^−1)			KMnO4 – C (g kg^−1)
	Depth (cm)			Depth (cm)			Depth (cm)			Depth (cm)
Land use and cropping systems	0–5	5–10	10–15	0–5	5–10	10–15	0–5	5–10	10–15	0–5	5–10	10–15
Summer sampling
Organic farming	30.8^b,c	26.8^c,d,e	24.8^c,d,e,f	694^c	683^c	666^c	6.7^d	6.3^e	6.3^e	4.8^c,d	3.8^c,d,e	3.6^c,d,e
Soya bean–wheat	25.5^c,d,e	21.7^d,e,f,g	18.1^f,g,h	483^f	454^f,g	433^g	2.7^g	2.7^g	2.7^g	3.5^c,d,e	3.6^c,d,e	2.9^c,d,e
Fodder crop	34.1^b	28.2^b,c,d	24.3^c,d,e,f	624^d	577^e	598^d,e	5.5^f	5.2^f	5.2^f	3.7^c,d,e	2.8^c,d,e	3.0^c,d,e
Oak forest	45.8^a	43.2^a	41.6^a	923^a	871^b	848^b	11.0^a	10.4^b	10.1^c	23.2^a	10.3^b	5.3^c
Barren land	20.9^e,f,g,h	16.7^g,h	14.6^h	188^h	146^i	130^i	1.0^h	0.8^h	0.7^h	2.2^d,e	1.7^e	1.5^e
Winter sampling
Organic farming	32.0^c,d	27.4^d,e,f	25.4^e,f	507^d	477^e	456^e,f	7.2^c	7.0^c,d	7.0^c,d,e	4.5^c	3.7^c	3.5^c
Soya bean–wheat	27.0^d,e,f	22.5^f,g	19.5^g,h	376^h	352^h	316^i	3.0^f	2.7^f	2.7^f	3.5^c	3.5^c	2.8^c
Fodder crop	36.7^c	32.1^c,d	30.0^d,e	475^e	421^g	433^f,g	6.4^c,d,e	5.9^e	6.2^d,e	3.7^c	3.2^c	3.4^c
Oak forest	49.5^a	47.8^a,b	44.1^b	722^a	681^b	653^c	12.1^a	11.7^a	10.6^b	21.0^a	9.2^b	7.9^b
Barren land	23.1^g	19.9^g,h	15.2^h	171^j	128^k	111^k	1.1^g	1.0^g	0.7^g	2.0^c	1.7^c	1.4^c

Figure 1.  Effect of different land use and cropping systems on microbial quotient in summer and winter seasons. The bars with different letters are significantly different at p < 0.05, according to DMRT.

Figure 2.  Effect of different land use and cropping systems on the CMI.