earticle

영어

As Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) concentration can vary among soils with various vegetation and land use types, it is crucial to comprehend how it is distributed throughout the soil profile when evaluating soil carbon storage. This study was conducted to determine the influence of tree variables on SOC in the soil profile of 0-10 cm, 10-20 cm, and 20-30 cm of four forest types; Lower Subtropical Mixed Hardwood Forest (LMHF), Chir Pine Forest (CPF), Upper Temperate Mixed Hardwood Forest (UMHF), and Oak Forest (OF) of Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park of Kathmandu. For soil samples, at least eight replicates of soil each around 300 grams from each forest were extracted following the stratified random sampling method. The highest average bulk density (BD) was observed in the CPF (0.875 gm cm-3) and lowest in the OF (0.725 gm cm-3). The SOC concentration varied between 1.15% and 3.54%. The OF had highest SOC stock (73.058 tha-1) followed by the UMHF, LMHF, and CPF which were 64.862, 46.830, and 34.653 tha-1, respectively and the SOC stocks are significantly different (p=7.75e-08***) as we compare means between the forests. ANOVA test of Organic Carbon Concentration (OCC) between different layers of each forest type showed similar results having significant differences between layers for every forest type (p＜0.05). Tree variables from trees; average dbh, average height, and crown density all resulted in a statistically significant positive correlation with SOC indicating that if these variables are maximum, SOC tends to increase. It is expected that the research findings will be useful for further research in the field of carbon studies about the tree variables for the management of forest habitats for park managers and researchers.