Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Soil organic carbon stock as affected by land use/cover changes in the humid region of northern Iran

  • Published:
Journal of Mountain Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the changes in the soil carbon stocks as influenced by land use in a humid zone of Deylaman district (10,876 ha), a mountainous region of northern Iran. For this, land use maps were produced from TM and ETM+ images for 1985, 2000 and 2010 years; and this was supplemented by field measurement of soil carbon in 2010. The results showed that the mean soil organic carbon (SOC) density was 6.7±1.8 kg C m−2, 5.2±3.4 kg C m−2 and 3.2±1.8 kg C m−2 for 0–20 cm soil layer and 4.8±1.9 kg C m−2, 3.1±2 kg C m−2 and 2.7±1.8 kg C m−2 for 20–40 cm soil layer in forest, rangeland and cultivated land, respectively. During the past 25 years, 14.4% of the forest area had been converted to rangeland; and 28.4% of rangelands had been converted to cultivated land. According to the historical land use changes in the study area, the highest loss of SOC stocks resulted from the conversion of the forest to rangeland (0.45×104 Mg C in 0–40 cm depth layer); and the conversion of rangeland to cultivated land (0.37×104 Mg C in 0–40 cm), which typically led to the loss of soil carbon in the area studied. The knowledge on the historical land use changes and its influence on overall SOC stocks could be helpful for making management decision for farmers and policy managers in the future, for enhancing the potential of C sequestration in northern Iran.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alphan H, Doygun H, Unlukaplan YI (2008) Post-classification of land cover using multi temporal Landsat and ASTER imagery: the case of Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 151(1–4): 327–336. DOI: 10.1007/s10661-008-0274

    Google Scholar 

  • Alvaro-Fuentes J, Paustian K (2011) Potential soil carbon sequestration in a semiarid Mediterranean agroecosystem under climate change: quantifying management and climate effects. Plant and Soil 338: 261–272. DOI: 10.1007/s11104-010-0304-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ayoubi S, Khoramli F, Sahrawat KL, Rodrigues de Lima AC (2011) Assessing Impacts of Land Use Change on Soil Quality Indicators in a Loessial Soil in Golestan Province, Iran, Northern Iran. Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology 13(5): 727–742.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ayoubi S, Mokhtari Karchegani P, Mosaddeghi MR, Honarjoo N (2012) Soil aggregation and organic carbon as affected by topography and land use change in western Iran. Soil & Tillage Research 121: 18–26. DOI: 10.1016/j.still.2012.01.011

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ayoubi S, Zamani S, Khormali F (2007) Spatial variability of some soil properties for site specific farming in northern Iran. International Journal of Plant Production 1: 225–236.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brannstrom C, Filippi AM (2008) Remote classification of Cerrado (Savanna) and agricultural land covers in northeastern Brazil. Geocarto International 23: 109–134. DOI: 10.1080/10106040701596767

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Congalton RG, Green K (1999) Assessing the accuracy of remotely sensed data: principles and practices. New York. Lewis Publishers. p 137.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coppin P, Jonckheere I, Nackaerts K, et al. (2004) Digital change detection methods in ecosystem monitoring: a review. International Journal Remote Sensing 25(9): 1565–1596.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fang X, Xue Z, Li B, An S (2012) Soil organic carbon distribution in relation to land use and its storage in a small watershed of the Loess Plateau, China. Catena 88: 6–13. DOI: 10.1016/j.catena.2011.07.012

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goovaerts P (1997) Geostatistics for Natural Resources Evaluation. New York. Oxford University Press. p 483.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guindon B, Zhang Y, Dillabaurgh C (2004) Landsat urban mapping based on a combined spectral-spatial methodology. Remote sensing of environment 92: 218–232. DOI:10.1016/j.rse.2004.06.015

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guo LB, Gifford RM (2002) Soil carbon stocks and land use change: a meta analysis. Global Change Biology 8(4): 345–360. DOI:10.1046/j.1354-1013.2002.00486.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Houghton RA (2003) Revised estimates of the annual net flux of carbon to the atmosphere from changes in land use and land management 1850–2000. Tellus B 55(2): 378–390. DOI: 10.1034/j.1600-0889.2003.01450.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Isaaks EH, Srivastava RM (1989) Applied Geostatistics. New York. Oxford University Press. p 561.

    Google Scholar 

  • Karchegani MP, Ayoubi S, Mosaddeghi MR, Honarjoo N (2012) Soil Organic Carbon Pools in Particle-Size Fractions as Affected by Slope Gradient and Land Use Change in Hilly Regions, Western Iran. Journal of Mountain Science 9: 87–95. DOI: 10.1007/s11629-012-2211-2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khormali F, Ajami M, (2011) Pedogenetic investigation of soil degradation on a deforested loess hillslope of Golestan Province, Northern Iran. Geoderma 167–168: 274–283. DOI:10.1016/j.geoderma.2011.07.030

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khormali F, Ajami M, Ayoubi Sh, et al. (2009) Role of deforestation and hillslope position on soil quality attributes of loess-derived soils in Golestan Province, Iran. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 134(3–4): 178–189. DOI: 10.1016/j.agee.2009.06.017

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kravchenko AN (2003) Influence of spatial structure on accuracy of interpolation methods. Soil Science Society of America Journal 67: 1564–1571.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lal R (2002) Soil carbon dynamics in cultivated land and rangeland. Environmental Pollution 116: 353–362.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lunetta RS, Knight JF, Ediriwickrema J, et al. (2006) Worthy Land-cover change detection using multi-temporal MODIS NDVI data, Remote Sensing of Environment 105: 142–154. doi:10.1016/j.rse.2006.06.018

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin D, Lal T, Sachdev CB, Sharma JP (2010) Soil organic carbon storage changes with climate change, landform and land use conditions in Garhwal hills of the Indian Himalayan mountains. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 138: 64–73. DOI:10.1016/j.agee.2010.04.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marvie Mohadjer MR (2004) Silviculture of the oriental beech (Fagus orientalis Lipsky); experiences made in Caspian forests, north of Iran. In: Proceedings from the 7th International beech Symposium. IUFRO Research Group. Tehran, Iran. pp. 13–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGrath D, Zhang C (2003) Spatial distribution of soil organic carbon concentrations in grassland of Ireland. Applied Geochemistry 18: 1629–1639. DOI:10.1016/S0883-2927(03)00045-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mendoza-Vega J, Karltun E, Olsson M (2003) Estimations of amounts of soil organic carbon and fine root carbon in land use and land cover classes, and soil types of Chiapas highlands, Mexico. Forest Ecology and Management 177: 191–206

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mohammadi J, Shataee SH (2010) Possibility investigation of tree diversity mapping using Landsat ETM+ data in the Hyrcanian forests of Iran. Remote Sensing of Environment 114: 1504–1512. DOI:10.1016/j.rse.2010.02.004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ogle SM, Paustian K (2005) Soil organic carbon as an indicator of environmental quality at the national scale: Inventory monitoring methods and policy relevance. Canadian Journal of Soil Science 85: 531–540.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ostle NJ, Levy PE, Evans CD, Smith P (2009) UK land use and soil carbon sequestration. Land Use Policy 26S: S274–S283. DOI:10.1016/j.landusepol.2009.08.006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phachomphon K, Dlamini P, Chaplot V (2010) Estimating carbon stocks at regional level using soil information and easily accessible auxiliary variables. Geoderma 155: 372–380. DOI:10.1016/j.Geoderma.2009.12.020

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poeplau C, Don A (2013) Sensitivity of soil organic carbon stocks and fractions to different land-use changes across Europe. Geoderma 192: 189–201. DOI:10.1016/j.Geoderma.2012.08.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pradhan R, Ghose MK, Jeyaram A (2010) Land Cover Classification of Remotely Sensed Satellite Data using Bayesian and Hybrid classifier. International Journal of Computer Applications 7: 1–4. DOI: 10.5120/1295-1783

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shahriari A, Khormali F, Kehl M, et al. (2011) Effect of a longterm cultivation and crop rotations on organic carbon in loess derived soils of Golestan Province, Northern Iran. International Journal of Plant Production 5: 147–152.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharma P, Rai SC (2007) Carbon sequestration with land-use cover change in a Himalayan watershed. Geoderma 139: 371–378. DOI:10.1016/j.Geoderma.2007.02.016

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sheldrick BH, Wang C (1993) Particle size distribution. In: Carter, M.R. (Ed.) Soil Sampling and Methods of Analysis. Canadian Society of Soil Science. USA. Lewis Publishers. p. 499.

    Google Scholar 

  • Soil Survey Staff (1996) Soil survey laboratory methods manual. In: Soil Survey Investigations Report. USA. USDA-NRCS, p. 716.

    Google Scholar 

  • SPSS WebAPP Framework (2005) Available from: http://www.spss.com/webapp/roi.htm.

  • Sun B, Zhou S, Zhao Q (2003) Evaluation of spatial and temporal changes of soil quality based on geostatistical analysis in the hill region of subtropical China. Geoderma 115: 85–99. DOI:10.1016/S0016-7061(03)00078-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stevens A, Van Wesemael B (2005) Soil organic carbon stock in the Belgian Ardennes as affected by afforestation and deforestation from 1868 to 2005. Forest Ecology and Management 256: 1527–1539. DOI:10.1016/j.foreco.2008.06. 041

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turner MG (1989) Landscape ecology: the effect of pattern and process. Annual Review of Ecological System 20: 171–197.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walkley A, Black IA (1934) An examination of the Degtjareff method for determining organic carbon in soils: Effect of variations in digestion conditions and of inorganic soil constituents. Soil Science 63: 251–263.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang S, Wilkes A, Zhang Z, et al. (2011) Management and land use change effects on soil carbon in northern China’s grasslands: a synthesis. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 142: 329–340. DOI:10.1016/j.agee.2011.06.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang YQ, Zhang XC, Zhang JL, Li SJ (2009) Spatial variability of soil organic carbon in a watershed on the Loess Plateau. Pedosphere 19: 486–495.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson RT, Noble LR, Bolin B, et al. (2000) Land Use, Landuse Change, and Forestry (A Special Report of the IPCC). England. Cambridge University Press. p 375.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wei JB, Xiao DN, Zeng H, Fu YK (2008) Spatial variability of soil properties in relation to land use and topography in a typical small watershed of the black soil region, northeastern China. Environmental geology 53:1663–1672. DOI: 10.1007/s00254-007-0773-z

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson BR, Barnes P, Koent T, et al. (2010) Measurement and estimation of land-use effects on soil carbon and related properties on a basalt landscape of northern NSW, Australia. Australian Journal of Soil Research 48(5): 421–433. DOI: 10.1071/SR09146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wislon BR, Koent T, Barnes P, et al. (2011) Soil carbon and related soil properties along a soil type and land-use intensity gradient, New South Wales, Australia. Soil Use and Management 27(4): 437–447. DOI: 10.1111/j.1475-2743.2011. 00357.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu H, Guo Z, Peng C (2003) Distribution and storage of soil organic carbon in China. Global Biological Cycles 17(2): 1–11. DOI: 10.1029/2001GB001844

    Google Scholar 

  • Yimer F, Ledin S, Abdelkadir A (2007) Changes in soil organic carbon and total nitrogen contents in three adjacent land use types in the Bale Mountains, south-eastern highlands of Ethiopia. Forest Ecology and Management 242: 337–342. DOI:10.1016/j.foreco.2007.01.087

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zanotta DC, Haertel V (2012) Gradual land cover change detection based on multitemporal fraction images. Pattern Recognition 45: 2927–2937. DOI:10.1016/j.patcog.2012.02.004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu Q, Lin HS (2010) Comparing ordinary kriging and regression kriging for soil properties in contrasting landscapes. Pedosphere 20: 594–606.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Natural Resource and Marine Science, Tarbiat Modares University, Noor, Mazandaran, 46414, Iran

    Samereh Falahatkar & Seyed Mohsen Hosseini

  2. Department of Environmental Sciences, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, 49138-15749, Iran

    Abdolrassoul Salman Mahiny

  3. Department of Soil Sciences, College of Agriculture, Isfahan University of Technology, 8415683111, Isfahan, 84156-93111, Iran

    Shamsollah Ayoubi

  4. Key Lab of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Beijing, 100101, China

    Shao-qiang Wang

Authors
  1. Samereh Falahatkar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Seyed Mohsen Hosseini
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Abdolrassoul Salman Mahiny
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Shamsollah Ayoubi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Shao-qiang Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Seyed Mohsen Hosseini.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Falahatkar, S., Hosseini, S.M., Salman Mahiny, A. et al. Soil organic carbon stock as affected by land use/cover changes in the humid region of northern Iran. J. Mt. Sci. 11, 507–518 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-013-2645-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-013-2645-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation