Abstract
The objective of this study was to quantify and compare the amount and distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC) under a linear simultaneous agroforestry system with different tree species treatments. Field work was conducted at Kifu National Forestry Resources Research Institute in Mukono District, Central Uganda, in a linear agroforestry system established in 1995 with four different tree species and a crop only control treatment. Soil samples were collected in 2006 at three depths; 0–25, 25–50, and 50–100 cm, before planting and after harvesting a maize crop. The results indicate that an agroforestry system has significant potential to increase SOC as compared to the crop only control. There was no significant difference in the amount of SOC under exotic and indigenous tree species. Among the exotic species, Grevillea robusta had higher SOC than Casuarina equisetifolia across the entire depth sampled. There is significant difference in SOC among the indigenous species, where Maesopsis eminii has more SOC than Markhamia lutea. Distance from the tree row did not significantly influence SOC concentration under any of the tree species. In selecting a tree species to integrate with crops that will sequester reasonable quantities of carbon as well as boost the performance of the crops, a farmer can either plant an exotic species or an indigenous. In this study, the soil under Grevillea robusta and Maesopsis eminii have the highest potential to store organic carbon compared to soil under other tree species.
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Acknowledgments
I am grateful to International Foundation for Science (IFS) who gave me the first Research Grant for funding the first phase of data collection. I also thank Carnegie Corporation through Makerere University for funding the second phase of my field data collection. I also thank Dr. John Okorio for allowing me to use Kifu National Forestry Resources Research Institute (NaFORRI) for my field experiment. I would like to thank all the people who participated in the field data collection of soil samples, and special thanks go to Chuck Schirmer for his assistance in the soil lab analysis.
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Tumwebaze, S.B., Bevilacqua, E., Briggs, R. et al. Soil organic carbon under a linear simultaneous agroforestry system in Uganda. Agroforest Syst 84, 11–23 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-011-9448-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-011-9448-6