This study was designed to evaluate the status, distribution, spatial variability, controlling factors, storage, and change in the levels of soil organic carbon (SOC) in two major alluviums of Bangladesh. The two alluviums the Brahmaputra and the Ganges were selected because they occupy a large area of Bangladesh with a wide diversity of agro-ecosystems. SOC levels were studied across the four sub-sites in the aforementioned alluviums at 0-30 cm depths to evaluate their spatial and temporal variability. The sub-sites, Delduar and Melandah, are in the Brahmaputra alluvium. The other two sub-sites, Mirpur and Fultala, are in the Ganges alluvium. Additionally, SOC and total nitrogen (TN) distribution were studied across eight soil profiles (0-120 cm depths) under the two alluviums. The results revealed that the SOC contents were very low in all the sites. The classical statistics showed that the variability of the SOC was moderate across the four sub-sites. The SOC distribution was positively skewed across all the sub-sites except Fultala. A semivariogram model showed there was generally a weak spatial correlation (R2 < 0.5) of SOC in the study sites. A relatively large sampling grid (1600m) and intensive soil management were perhaps responsible for the observed weak spatial dependency. SOC variability is lower across the highland (HL) and medium highland (MHL) sites than the medium lowland (MLL) and lowland (LL) sites. Changes in land use and land cover were also more intensive in the HL and MHL sites than the MLL and LL sites. The reason for low SOC in the HL and MHL sites may be due to their lower inundation level, e.g., land levels in relation to flooding depths, together with greater intensity of use. Temporal variability of SOC datasets revealed that SOC has declined across all the sites during the last 20-25 years due to the intensive land use with little or no crop residue inputs. It is plausible that SOC has declined to an equilibrium level, and further decline may not occur unless land use intensity changes further. The findings show that SOC is positively related to the TN and clay contents in the soils. This is not surprising as SOC is a major pool of TN, and soil clay fraction is known to protect SOC degradation. SOC and TN storage is higher in the surface soil horizon (0-20 cm) than the sub surface soils. Topsoil horizon is tilled and receives greater crop residue inputs which are subsequently mineralized resulting in higher accumulation of SOC and TN. It appears that inundation land types and land management practices may be the major driving factors of SOC storage and distribution across the study sites.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:692373 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Creators | Uddin, Jashim |
| Contributors | Mohiuddin, A. S. M. ; Waller, Martyn ; Smith, Mike ; Hooda, Peter |
| Publisher | Kingston University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://eprints.kingston.ac.uk/35756/ |
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