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Proceedings of the International Academy of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, 2016, 6(3): 67-74
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Article

Soil organic carbon sequestration potential of primary and secondary forests in Northeast India

K. T. Vashum, T. Kasomwoshi, S. Jayakumar
Environmental Informatics and Spatial Modeling Lab (EISML), Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Pondicherry University, Puducherry - 605014, India

Received 24 March 2016;Accepted 30 April 2016;Published online 1 September 2016
IAEES

Abstract
Plant, animal and microbial residues in all stages of decomposition contribute to soil organic carbon (SOC). Measurement of SOC will not only help us to assess the productivity and the sustainable fertility of the soil but it will also give us an idea about the potentials of the soil for sequestering carbon from the atmosphere or the emission potential when the soil is disturbed. The objective of this paper is to estimate and compare the SOC content in the primary and secondary forests up to 30 cm depth in Ukhrul District, Manipur. The secondary forest has been subjected to many cycles of shifting cultivation. The samples were analysed for the organic carbon content using Walkley-Black method. The mean SOC was found to be much higher in both upper (0-15cm) and lower (15-30cm) layer of the primary forest (5.25% and 3.12%) than the secondary forest (2.97% and 1.88%) respectively. Independent samples t-test shows that these means of SOC differ significantly between the two sites and the two layers. This study proves, based on the comparison of SOC content in the primary and secondary forest, the ability of forest soil to sequester carbon, if it remained undisturbed. It implies that the soil in these forests can be a chief source or sinks of carbon in nature and can play an important role in the mitigation and adaptation to climate change.

Keywords soil organic carbon;community forest;primary forest;secondary forest;climate change.

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