Comparison of soil carbon stock of afforested and treeless sites

Numerous research based on long-term weather data sets proves a drier and warmer climate in Hungary. Research related to climate change and carbon sequestration is developing dynamically, so it is notable to show how climate change affects the quality and quantity of organic matter content in soils. The importance of changes in soil organic carbon stocks follows from its effects on ecosystems on a global level. In the last decades, afforestation programs were also started in Hungary to promote carbon sequestration. However, there have been several criticisms of afforestation efforts by experts and researchers dealing with agriculture, according to which agricultural areas, particularly grasslands, can sequestrate more organic carbon than forest stands. It is also not suggested to plant forest stands in dry, sandy areas, as it has a drying effect on the soil due to its high water demand compared to the fields, thereby reducing the net carbon sequestration. This research aim was to examine the above proposition at 5 locations where wooded and treeless, different land-used areas were managed next to each other. Based on our scientific investigation, it cannot be clearly stated that the soil of the forests we examined has a richer carbon stock than the neighboring arable land or pasture, but together with the amount of carbon stored in the O horizon, the forests surplus prevailed upon every examined point. Due to the slow process of carbon sequestration and organic matter entering the soil, we also plan to conduct long-term tests.

This article was made in the frame of the project TKP2021-NKTA-43 which has been implemented with the support provided by the Ministry of Innovation and Technology of Hungary (successor: Ministry of Culture and Innovation of Hungary) from the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund, financed under the TKP2021-NKTA funding scheme.