Document Type : Research Article

Authors

Shahrekord University

Abstract

Introduction: Although many studies have been done on the effects of agricultural land abandonment, there is very little information about the impact of climate conditions on the restoration of abandoned agricultural lands. Human has changed most of rangelands to agricultural lands causing a decrease in carbon sequestration, depending on land management and tillage operations. One of the methods for rebuilding the land cover is the land abandonment, which results in enhanced organic carbon and decreased CO2 emission. Understanding the storage and dynamics of soil organic matter, especially in relation to changing land use, is fundamental to evaluate the role of soil as a carbon source or sink. After land use change from rangeland to cropland, agricultural practices decrease the C stored in soils and cause a net release of C into the atmosphere, which has strongly influenced the atmospheric CO2 levels and global C balance over the last centuries. For this purpose, this study aimed to assess the effect of interaction between agricultural land abandonment and climatic conditions on organic material reserves of primary soil particles.
Materials and Methods: The study area was located in semi-steppe rangelands of Sheida and Khargosh in about 60 km northwest of Shahrekord city, Chaharmahal-va-Bakhtiari province, central Iran. In this study, four treatments including rangeland, agricultural and cultivated land abandoned in the time series of 10-15 and 15-40 Year were selected. The sample plots were placed in the distance of transects, and the soil samples were collected from 0-30 cm depths with different rainfall conditions from two above-mentioned regions in three replications. For each region, the soil samples were transferred to the laboratory and then analyzed. The selected locations had same soil shape, topography, parent material, and slope. The soil samples of three plots were then combined and 24 samples were prepared. The distribution of carbon and nitrogen concentrations was determined at different soil particle components.
Results and Discussion: The results showed that the rangeland change to cultivated land did not have a significant effect on the amount of organic carbon, total nitrogen, and total carbon to total nitrogen ratio. However, the values of these indicators decreased significantly in the Sheida region. Under all land management, the amount of carbon and nitrogen of soil particles increased with decreasing the particle size from sand to clay. Hence, the abandoned agricultural land and rangelands did not significantly affect the amount of carbon and nitrogen concentration in sand, silt and clay particles. The amount of carbon, however, increased with the abandonment time and non-agronomic activity of carbon in sand and silt particles, although the carbon content of clay particle was not influenced. Agricultural practices may negatively or positively impact natural ecosystem depending on climatic condition and soil quality in unchanged lands. However, despite suitable climatic conditions (in terms of precipitation) and land cover in the rangelands over Sheida, the cultivation adversely influenced the soil quality and organic matter of the unchanged land. Although, the precipitation and soil quality were relatively lower in Khargosh region, the agricultural activities seem not to negatively affect the land quality. Moreover, rangelands change to cultivated lands did not have a significant effect on the amount of soil nitrogen in this region. The greatest nitrogen amount was measured in clay fractions of cultivated and abandoned lands for 40 years, and the minimum nitrogen content was detected in sand particles of lands abandoned for 15 years. The highest and lowest amount of nitrogen over all three fractions was, respectively, found for unchanged and abandoned lands in Sheida region. Therefore, the cultivated land depending on climate condition and management may considerably increase or decrease the organic carbon content in sand, silt and clay particles.
Conclusion: The results indicated that the agricultural land abandonment may differently affect the rangelands restoration measures such as the vegetation reclamation and soil carbon sequestration depending on climatic condition. 

Keywords

1- Ahmadi H., Heshmati G.H., Psrkly M., and Nasseri H.R. 2009. Comparison of carbon sequestration in desert and meadow forests to manage sandy land in south of salt lake. Thesis of the Ministry of Science and Research and Technology, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan University, p. 75. (In Persian with English abstract)
2- Anderson D.W., and Paul E.A. 1984. Organo-mineral complexes and their study by radiocarbon dating. Soil Sci. Soc, Am, J., 48: 298-301.
3- Bremner J.M., and Mulvaney C.S. 1982. Nitrogen total. Pp: 595-624. In: Page AL. (ed.) Methods of Soil Analysis. Part 2, Chemical Analysis. ASA and SSSA. Madison, WI.
4- Bronick C.J., and Lal R. 2005. Manuring and rotation effects on soil organic carbon concentration for different aggregate size fractions on two soils in northeastern Ohio, USA. Soil and Tillage Research 81: 239-252.
5- Caravaca F., and Roldan A. 2003. Effect of Eisenia foetida earthworms on mineralization kinetics, microbial biomass, enzyme activities, respiration and labile C fractions of three soils treated with a composted organic residue. Biology and Fertility of Soils 38: 45–51.
6- Caravaca F., Masciandro G., and Ceccanti B. 2002. Land use in relation to soil chemical and biochemical properties in a semi-arid Mediterranean environment. Soil and Tillage Research 68: 23-30.
7- Christensen B.T., and Sørensen L.H. 1985. The distribution of native and labelled carbon between soil particle size fractions isolated from long-term incubation experiments. Eur. J. Soil Sci. 36: 219-229.
8- Christensen B.T. 1987. Decomposability of organic matter in particle size fractions from field soils with straw incorporation. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 19: 429-435.
9- Christensen B.T. 1996. Carbon in primary and secondary organomineral complexes. Pp: 97-165. In: Carter MR and Stewart BA (eds). Structure and Organic Matter Storage in Agricultural Soils. CRC Press Inc., Boca Raton, FL.
10- Christensen B.T. 2001. Physical fractionation of soil and structural and functional complexity in organic matter turnover. European Journal of Soil Science 52: 345-353.
11- Gee G.W., and Bauder J.W. 1986. Particle-size analysis. Pp: 383-411. In: Klute A (ed). Methods of Soil Analysis. Physical and Mineralogical Methods. Part 1(2nd ed),
12- Golchin A., and Malakouti M.J. 1999. Maintenance and mobility of soil organic matter. Iranian Journal Soil and Water Science 13(1): 40-53.(In Farsi)
13- Gregorich E.G., Kachanoski R.G., and Voroney R.P. 1989. Carbon mineralization in soil size fractions after various amounts of aggregate disruption. Eur. J. Soil Sci. 40: 649-659.
14- Haile-Mariam S., Collins H.P., Wright S., and Paul E.A. 2008. Fractionation and long-term laboratory incubation to measure soil organic matter dynamics. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 72: 370-378.
15- He N., Wu L., Wang Y., and Han X. 2009. Changes in carbon and nitrogen in soil particle-size fractions along a grassland restoration chronosequence in northern China. Geoderma 150: 302- 308.
16- Jafari S., Golchin A., and Tollabi fard A. 2016. The Effect of Land Use Change on the Properties of Physical Components of Organic Matter, Pressure Clay and Aggregate Stability in Some Lands of Khuzestan Province. Iran Water and Soil Research, Period 47, No 3, pp 603-593. (In Persian with English abstract)
17- Jagadamma S., and Lal R. 2010. Distribution of organic carbon in physical fractions of soils as affected by agricultural management. Biology and Fertility of Soils 46: 543-554.
18- Kandeler E., Stemmer M., and Klimanek E.M. 1999. Response of soil microbial biomass, urease and xylanase within particle size fractions to long-term soil management. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 31: 261-273.
19- Lorenz K., Lal R., and Shipitalo M.J. 2008. Chemical stabilization of organic carbon pools in particle size fractions in no-till and meadow soils. Biology and Fertility of Soils 44: 1043-1051.
20- Murage E.W., Voroney P.R., Kay B.D., Deen B., and Beyaert R.P. 2007. Dynamics and turnover of soil organic matter as affected by tillage. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 71: 1363_1370.
21- Nadal-Romero E., Cammeraat E., Perez-Cardiel E., and Lasanta T. 2016. Effects of secondary succession and afforestation practices on soil properties after cropland abandonment in humid Mediterranean mountain areas. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 228: 91-100.
22- Nelson D.W., and Somners L.E. 1982. Total carbon, organic carbon, and organic matter. Pp: 539-579.
23- Novara A., Gristina L., Sala G., Galati A., Crescimanno M., Cerdà A., and LaMantia T. 2017. Agricultural land abandonment in Mediterranean environment provides ecosystem services via soil carbon sequestration. Science of the Total Environment 576: 420-429
24- Olk D.C., and Gregorich E.G. 2006. Overview of the symposium proceedings, meaningful pools in determining soil carbon. Soil Science Society of America Journal 70: 967-974.
25- Preston C.N., Newman R.H., and Rother P. 1994. Using 13C CPMAS NMR to assess effects of cultivation on the organic matter of particle size fractions in a grassland soil. Soil Sci. 157: 26-35.
26- Qiu L., Wei X., Zhang X., Cheng J., Gale W., Guo C., and Long T. 2012. Soil organic carbon losses due to land use change in a semiarid grassland. Plant and Soil 355(1-2): 299-309.
27- Raiesi F. 2007. The conversion of overgrazed pastures to almond orchards and alfalfa cropping systems may favor microbial indicators of soil quality in Central Iran. Agric Ecosyst Environ 121: 309–318.
28- Raiesi F. 2012. Soil properties and C dynamics in abandoned and cultivated farmlands in a semi-arid ecosystem. Plant Soil 351: 161–175
29- Salek-Gilani S., Raiesi F., Tahmasebi P., and Ghorbani N. 2013. Soil organic matter in restored rangelands following cessation of rainfed cropping in a mountainous semi-arid landscape. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems 96(2-3): 215-232.
30- San Roman Sanz A., Fernandez C., Mouillot F., Ferrat I., Istria D., and Pasqualini V. 2013. Long-term forest dynamics and land use abandonment in the Mediterranean mountains, Coesica France. Ecol. Soc. 18 (2): 38.
31- Schahczenski J., and Hill H. 2009. Agriculture, Climate Change and Carbon Sequestration, ATTRA Publications, 16 pp.
32- Schuman G.E., Janzen H., and Herrick J.E. 2002. Soil carbon information and potential carbon sequestration by rangelands, Environmental Pollution, Vol 116. Pp: 391-396.
33- Six J., Guggenberger G., Paustian K., Haumaier L., Elliott E.T., and Zech W. 2001. Sources and composition of soil organic matter fractions between and within soil aggregate. European Journal of Soil Science: 52(4): 607-618.
34- Six J., Paustian K., Elliott E.T., and Combrink C. 2000. Soil structure and organic matter: I. distribution of aggregate-size classes and aggregate-associated carbon. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 64:681–689. Soil Use and Management 21: 38–52.
35- Spohn M., Novak T.J., Incze J., and Giani L. 2016. Dynamics of soil carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in calcareous soils after land-use abandonment–A chronosequence study. Plant and Soil 401(1-2): 185-196.
36- Stemmer M., Gerzabeki M.H., and Kandeler E. 1998. Organic matter and enzyme activity in particlesize fractions of soils obtained after low-energy sonication. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 30: 9-17.
37- Wagai R., Mayer L.M., and Kitayama K. 2009. Nature of the occluded low density fraction in soil organic matter studies: A critical review. Soil Science and Plant Nutrition 55: 13-25.
38- Wertebach T.M., Hölzel N., Kämpf I., Yurtaev A., Tupitsin S., Kiehl K., and Kleinebecker T. 2017. Soil carbon sequestration due to post‐Soviet cropland abandonment: estimates from a large‐scale soil organic carbon field inventory. Global Change Biology.
39- Zhang Z.D., Yang X.M., Drury C.F., Reynolds W.D., and Zhao L.P. 2010. Mineralization of active soil organic carbon in particle size fractions of a Brookston clay soil under no-tillage and mouldboard plough tillage. Canadian Journal of Soil Science 90(4): 551-557.
CAPTCHA Image