Carbon Stock and Some Chemical Properties of Soil in Sacred Groves and Pollarded Forest Stands of Northern Zagros Forests

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

• Niloofar Koosha ¹
• Kyumars Mohammadi Samani ²
• Vahid Hosseini ³

¹ M.Sc, Dept, of Forestry, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, I. R. Iran

² 2 and 3- Assistant prof, Dept. of Forestry, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran and Dr. Hedayat Ghazanfari center for Research and Development of Northern Zagros Forestry, Baneh, I. R. Iran.

³ Assistant prof, Dept. of Forestry, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran and Dr. Hedayat Ghazanfari center for Research and Development of Northern Zagros Forestry, Baneh, I. R. Iran.

https://doi.org/10.22067/jsw.2022.77579.1180

Abstract

Introduction
A large part of forest and woodland ecosystems in Iran have been located in arid and semi-arid areas which low level of soil organic carbon (SOC) is considered as one of the main problems. Millions of trees together that make forest ecosystems, play a major role in carbon sequestration and can sequester it in the form of biomass, above ground in plants and also underground in plants root or in the soil. Forest ecosystems play a significant role in absorbing and reducing greenhouse gases and therefore, can play a crucial role in decreasing global warming. Soil is one of the great sources of carbon storage, which plays a significant role in the atmospheric carbon deposition and dioxide gas. The carbon stored in the soil changes under some important driving factors such as: land use change, animal grazing, pollarding, exploitation (included forest harvesting), topography and forest trees, and types. One of the main sources of income for forest stakeholders in Zagros area is the Zagros oak forest. These people livelihoods are heavily dependent on natural resources, especially forest, known as a kind of traditional land use system called “Galazani”. Each family, in this system, has its own common ownership and manages their proprietorships called “Gallajar” which is a part of the woodlands and use some kind of traditional silvopastoral techniques to use these areas. Dominant livestock in the most part of theses area are goats and sheep. In the growing season, they usually feed on ground vegetation and in the winter time, they use dried oak leaves (leaf hay) that is stored before on some special trees call “Daar-Galla”. In the northern part of Zagros oak forest (Kurdistan province), there are some very special stands that are found around every village called sacred groves and are totally intact because of some spiritual values and taboos. There are no exploitation and grazing and even land use changing in these areas, and they show the real undisturbed forest lands in Zagros. The aim of this research was to study and compare soil carbon stock and some essential soil properties in sacred groves and pollarded forests (Gallajar) of northern Zagros forests in order to obtain more precise data in soil after high exploitation and pollarding.
Materials and Methods
The average annual rainfall in 25 recent years in the study is 690 mm and the average annual temperature is 14.2 degrees Celsius. The dominant trees species in the region are Lebanon oak, Aleppo oak and Persian oak. To conduct this investigation, three study areas included both sacred groves and Gallajars, in three main slope aspects including north, east and south facing aspects, were chosen. Then six plots (10 a) were randomly selected in each area and tree canopy (%) and litter percentage were determined in the field. Soil samples took in two depths (0-15 and 15-30 cm) in the center of each plots and then bulk density (BD) and some chemical soil properties included soil organic carbon, soil carbon stock, total nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), electrical conductivity (EC) and pH were measured in the soil laboratory. A factorial randomized complete block design was used to analysis soil data.
Results and Discussion
The results showed that there were significant differences between soil depths for studied soil properties except BD, N and K and also there were significant differences in various slope aspects in studied parameters. However, no such a trend was observed in soil N and EC. The results also revealed that pollarding had significant effects on all studied soil properties. In addition, all studied soil properties including SOC stock, N, P, K and EC in sacred groves was higher than Gallajars while pH and BD were increased in pollarded areas. The amount of SOC stock, N, P and EC were greater at depth 0-15 compared to depth of 0-15 cm while, pH showed lower amount in the surface soil layer and K and BD had no significant differences in the two studied soil layers. SOC stock in northern, eastern and southern slope aspect were 72.6, 48.2 and 45 tons/ha, respectively. Pollarding and livestock grazing in Gallajars caused a significant decrease in tree canopy and, as a result, the litters on the grounds also reduced. Therefore, it seems that the reduction of trees and canopy cover affected soil properties significantly and reduced SOC stock meaningfully in the long term. Other essential chemical soil properties were also lower in Galajars compared to sacred groves.
Conclusion
Finally, we can claim that, some factors including pollarding and grazing can significantly reduce SOC stock and other studied soil properties in this research. On the one hand, people are using these forest areas as grazing pastures and also for pollarding trees to fed their livestock and the government could not have convinced them not to pollard the trees and, on the other hand, the results in this study showed that these pollarding operations are affecting forest stands and forest soil chemical properties and SOC stock significantly and reduce their quality considerably. It can be suggested that some new management treatments should be done in these forest areas through the training of local people, preparing sufficient fodder resources and providing enough facilities by the government to reduce pollarding by stakeholders. As a result, the natural process of production and decomposition of organic matter may be controlled in a better way, so that, the soil quality and carbon storage in these forests to be improved in the long term.
 

Keywords

• Chemical properties of soil
• Sacred stands
• Slope aspects
• Soil depth
• Soil organic carbon

20.1001.1.20084757.1401.36.5.4.4

Main Subjects

• Soil science

References

1. Begum, F., Bajracharya, R., Sharma, S., & Sitaula, B.K. (2010). Influence ofslope aspect on soil physico-chemical and biological properties in the mid hills of central Nepal. International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology 17: 438–443. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13504509.2010.499034.
2. Biabani, K., Pilehvar, B., & Safari, A. (2016). Comparison of spatial patterns and interspecific association of Gall Oak (Quercus infectoriaOliv.) and Lebanon Oak ( libaniOliv.) in two less degraded and degraded Oak stands in northern Zagros (Case study: Khedr Abad, Sardasht). Iranian Journal of Forest and Poplar Research 24(1): 77-88. (In Persian with English abstract). https://doi.org/10.22092/ijfpr.2016.106690.
3. Chen, , Baoyin, T., & Xia, F. (2022). Grassland management strategies influence soil C, N, and P sequestration through shifting plant community composition in semi-arid grasslands of northern China. Ecological Indicators 134: 9 p. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.108470.
4. Dhaou, S.O., Abdullah, F., Belgacem, A.O., & Chaieb, M. (2010). The Protection effects on floristic diversity in a North African Pseudo Savanna. Pakistan Journal of Botany (Pak. J. Bot) 42(3): 1501-1510.
5. Fattahi, M. (1994). The study of Zagros Oak forests and their main degradation causes. Published by Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Tehran 63p. (In Persian with English abstract)
6. Foth, H.D., & Ellis, B.G. )1988(. Soil fertility. Published by Wiley. 304p. https://doi.org/10.1201/9780203739341.
7. Ghazanfari, H., Namiranian, M., Sobhani, H., & MarviMohajer, R.M. (2004). Traditional forest management and its application to encourage Public Participation for Sustainable forest management in the northern Zagros mountain of Kurdistan Province, Iran. Scandinavian Journal of Forest Science 19(4): 65-71. https://doi.org/10.1080/14004080410034074.
8. Gholami, L., Davari, M., Nabiollahi, K., & Joneidi Jafari, H. (2016). Effect of land use changes on some soil physical and chemical properties (case study: Baneh). Journal of Water and Soil Science 5(3): 13-27. (In Persian with English abstract)
9. Gogoi, A., Ahirwal, J., & KumarSahoo, U. (2022). Evaluation of ecosystem carbon storage in major forest types of Eastern Himalaya: Implications for carbon sink management. Journal of Environmental Management 302 (PtA): 113972. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113972.
10. Golmohammadi, H., Ramezanpour, H., & Rezapour, S. (2016). Study on some soil properties as affected by different slope position and aspect in mountainous Landform with different parent materials in Masouleh. Water and Soil Science 26(2): 54-66. (In Persian with English abstract)
11. Hajizaki, H. (2009). The effect of Pollarding on soil physico-chemical properties in the northern Zagross forest. MSc Thesis. University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran, 72p. (In Persian with English abstract)
12. Haiyan, C., Xingjia, X., Jian, Y., Adams, J.M., Kaoping, Z., Yuntao, L., & Yu, S. (2016). Effects of slope aspects on soil bacterial and arbuscular fungal communities in a boreal forest in China. Pedosphere 26(2): 226–234. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1002-0160(15)60037-6.
13. Heidarian, Sh., & Ghasemi Aghbash, F. (2020). Study of Carbon sequestration in trees and soil in two urban parks of Kohdasht city. Journal of Environmental Science and Technology 22(1): 215-225. (In Persian with English abstract). https://civilica.com/doc/1287579.
14. Jafari Haghighi, M. (2003). Methods of Soil Analysis: Sampling and Important Physical and Chemical Analysis. NedayeZoha Press, Sari 236p. (In Persian with English abstract)
15. Jafari Sarabi, H., Pilehvar, B., Abrari, K., & Waez-Mousavi, S.M. )2021(. Changes in carbon sequestration and some edaphic traits in forest types of central Zagros (Case study: the forests of Lorestan province). Ecology of Iranian Forests 9(17): 142-151. (In Persian with English abstract)
16. Jazirehi, M.H., & Ebrahimi Rostaghi, M. )2003(. Silviculture in Zagros. University of Tehran Press, Tehran 560p (In Persian with English abstract).
17. Juhos, K., Madarasz, B., Kotroczo, Z., Beni, A., Makadi, M., & Feket, I. )2021(. Carbon sequestration of forest soils is reflected by changes in physicochemical soil indicators –A comprehensive discussion of a long-term experiment on a detritus manipulation. Geoderma 385: 114918. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2020.114918.
18. Mahmood, H., Saha, Ch., Paul, N., Deb, Sh., Abdullah, R., Islam Tanvir, S.S., Bashar, A., Roy, S., Rabby, F., Ahmed, Sh.N., & Ali, H. (2021). The soil quality of the world largest refugee campsites located in the Hill forest of Bangladesh and the way forward to improve the soil quality. Environmental Challenges 3: 100048. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envc.2021.100048.
19. Malaga, N., Hergoualc’h, K., Kapp, G & Martius, C. (2021). Variation in vegetation and ecosystem carbon stock due to the conversion of disturbed forest to oil palm plantation in Peruvian Amazonia. Ecosystems 24(2): 351-369. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-020-00521-8.
20. Maren, I.E., Karki, S., Prajapati, C., Yadav, R.K., & Shrestha, B.B. (2015). Facing north or south: Does slope aspect impact forest stand characteristics and soil properties in a semiarid trans-Himalayan valley?. Journal of Arid Environments 121: 112-123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2015.06.004.
21. Marvie Mohadjer, M.R. 2005. Professor of Silviculture University of Tehran, University of Tehran Press 410p. (In Persian with English abstract)
22. Mazouji, M., Mohammadi Samani, K., & Hosseini, V. (2020). The variation in density and biomass of earthworms with physical and chemical properties of soil after forest land-use change. Iranian Journal of Forest 12(2): 203-218. (In Persian with English abstract)
23. Mohmmadi Samani, K., Pordel, N., Hosseini, V., & Shakeri, Z. (2020). Effect of land-use changes on chemical and physical properties of soil in western Iran (Zagros oak forests). Journal of Forestry Research 31: 637-647. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-018-0799-y
24. Mohammadi Samani, K., Hoseini, V., & Rostami, H. (2022). Physical and chemical properties of soil in sacred groves and surrounding oak woodlands in Baneh County. Forest and Wood Products 74(4): 383-394. (In Persian with English abstract). https://doi.org/10.22059/jfwp.2021.317825.1154.
25. Moradi, H., Mirnia, S.Kh., & Lahourpour, Sh. (2008). Effect of grazing intensities on the soil physical properties and vegetation cover of Charandoo summer rangelands in Kurdistan province. Iranian Journal of Range and Desert Research 32(3): 369-378. (In Persian with English abstract).
26. Plieninger, T., Quintas-Soriano, C., Torralba, M., Mohammadi Samani, K., & Shakeri, Z., (2020). Social dynamics of values, taboos and perceived threats around sacred groves in Kurdistan, Iran. People and Nature 1237-1250. https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10158.
27. Poorhashemi, M. (2004). Study on natural regeneration of oak species in Marivan forests. A thesis submitted for Ph.D in forestry. Faculty of natural resources, University of Tehra press.
28. Prietzel, J., Zimmermann, L., Schubert, A., & Christophel, D. (2016). Organic matter losses in German Alps forest soils since the 1970s most likely caused by warming. Nature Geoscience 9: 543-548. https://doi:10.1038/ngeo2732.
29. Rahimi, J., Mohammadi Samani, K., Shabanian, N., & Rahmani, M.Sh. (2020). Investigating some chemical soil properties in the Pollarded and less-disturbed forest stands in the northern Zagros (Case study: Baneh forest, Kurdistan). Journal of Environmental Science and Technology (JEST) 22(3): 55-68. (In Persian with English abstract). https://doi:10.22034/JEST.2018.24965.3400.
30. Rajan, K., Natarajan, A., Sankarauarayanan, K., & Badrinath, M.S. (2010). Soil organic carbon the most reliable indicator for monitoring land degradation by Soil erosion. Current Science 99: 6-25.
31. Rosseti, I., Bagella, S., Cappai, M.C., Lai, R., Roggero, P.P., Martins dasilva, P., Sousa, J.P., Querner, P., & Seddaiu, G. (2015). Isolated cork oak trees affect soil properties and biodiversity in a Mediterranean wooded grassland. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 202: 203-216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2015.01.008.
32. Rostamizad, P., Hosseini, V., & Mohammadi Samani, K. (2020). Effects of Persian turpentine tree litter and slope aspect on soil chemical properties in a Zagros forest, Iran. Journal of Forestry Research 31(3): 1583-1588. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11676-019-00950-9.
33. Sadeghi, S., Mohammadi-Samani, K., Hosseini, V & Shakeri, Z. (2019). Effect of aspect on some soil chemical properties in the forest (Case study: Baneh, Armardeh forest). The 4 National Conference on Energy, Environmental, Agriculture, and Sustainable Architecture. 562-571. (In Persian with English abstract)
34. Sadeghi, S., Mohammadi Samani, K., Hosseini, V., & Shakeri, Z. (2019). Effect of grazing intensity and type of livestock on physical and chemical properties of forest soil (Case study: Armardeh Forest, Baneh, Iran). Iranian Journal of Forest and Poplar Research 27(3): 349-363. (In Persian with English abstract). http://dx.doi.org/10.22092/ijfpr.2019.127735.1860.
35. Salehi, A., Mohammadi, A., & Safari, A. (2011). Investigation and comparison of physical and chemical soil properties and quantitative characteristics of trees in less-damaged and damaged area of Zagros forests (Case study: Poldokhtar, Lorestan province). Iranian Journal of Forest 3(1): 81-89.
36. Sanchez-Maranon, M., Soriano, M., Delgado, G., & Delgado, R. (2002). Soil Quality in Mediterranean Mountain Environment. Soil Science Society of America Journal 66: 948-958. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj2002.9480.
37. Shakeri, Z., MarviMohajer, M.R., Etemad, V., & Namiranian, M. (2008). Qualitative investigation of Gall Oak (Quercus infectoriaOliv.) acorns in untouched and pruned forest stands of Baneh (Kurdistan Province, N-W Iran). Iranian Journal of Forest and Poplar Research 16(1): 99-111. (In Persian with English abstract)
38. Subedi, B.P., Pandey, S., Pandey, A., Rana, E.B., Bhattarai, S., Charmakar, S., & Tamrakar, R. (2011). Guideline for Measuring Carbon Stocks in Communitymanaged Forests. Asia Network for Sustainable Agriculture Bio-resources, Kathmandu, Nepal.
39. Toivio, J., Helmisaari, H.S., Palviainen, M., Lindeman, H., Ala-Ilomaki, J., Siren, M., & Uusitalo, J. (2017). Impacts of timber forwarding on physical properties of forest soils in southern Finland. Forest Ecology and Management 405: 22-30. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.FORECO.2017.09.022.
40. Wang, S., Fan, J., & Liu, S. (2017). Comprehensive analysis of difference in carbon stock estimation in the grasslands of China. Acta AgrestiaSinica 25: 905-913. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12093682.
41. Zhang, Q., Shao, M., Jia, X., & Wei, X. (2019). Changes in soil physical and chemical properties after short drought stress in semi-humid forests. Geoderma 338: 170-177. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2018.11.051.
42. Zobeiri, M. (2008). Forest Biometry. University of Tehran Press 407p.