Relationships between of carbon, nitrogen stocks and texture of the Harran plain soils in Southeastern Turkey

E. Sakin

Abstract: Present studies have focused on carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) stocks of soils because of increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and terrestrial ecosystems with wide N storages. Total C amounts were between 3.61 and 6.47 kg C m–2 and total nitrogen amounts were between 0.73 and 0.99 kg C m–2. C:N ratios were between 4.3:1 and 6.0:1 and bulk density (BD) was between 1.23–1.34 Mg m−3. Carbon and N stocks were determined as 10.53 Tg C and 1.96 Tg N, respectively. A highly significant relationship existed between carbon and nitrogen contents (R2=0.99; p<0.01). Soil organic carbon (SOC) concentration was found to be directly related to soil texture at all depths. A very strong relationship was found between SOC and soil texture in Harran Plain soils. According to statistical analyses (p<0.001), the strongest relationship was detected between SOC and clay (R2=0.96) and silt (R2=0.95). The relationship between sand and SOC was determined as (R2=0.65). The findings indicated that, in practice, areas containing low carbon should be preferred for use in carbon storage rather than areas containing high carbon stocks.

Keywords: C:N ratios; carbon; Carbon cycle; nitrogen; nitrogen cycle; soil texture

Date published: 2019-07-23