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Conversion of home garden agroforestry to crop fields reduced soil carbon and nitrogen stocks in Southern Ethiopia

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Abstract

The main objective of this study was to determine how the conversions of home gardens to mono-crop fields affect soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) stocks. The study compared SOC and soil TN stocks in 7 paired sites of home gardens and converted mono-crop fields (khat and sugar cane; cultivated for 1–20 years after conversion) in Wondo Genet, Southern Ethiopia. Except two recently converted mono-crop fields (1 and 4 years after conversion), most of converted mono-crop fields had significantly lower contents of SOC (18.3–47.1 %) and soil TN (14.9–45 %) compared to home gardens. Converted mono-crop fields over 10–20 years old showed significantly lower SOC stocks (18.2–30.2 %) and soil TN stocks (16.7–28.7 %) compared to home gardens. There was no significant relationship between the periods after conversion and the rate of decrease of SOC and TN stocks in the mono-crop fields. Study results show that conversion of home gardens to mono-crop fields decreases SOC and TN stocks. Further studies are needed to identify the major mechanisms causing the decrease and quantify the change of SOC and TN in different environment and climate conditions.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the farmers who allowed us to conduct the study in their home gardens and crop fields. We are also grateful to Teferi Shanka for assisting field and lab work and Richard Schultz, Robert Sturtevant, Guillermo Hernandez Ramirez, Tatum Branaman, Yi Choi, Michael Chaveriat, Tesfaye Ashine, and Justin Donnelley for constructive and valuable comments in the earlier manuscript. Financial support was provided by the Research and Development Office, Wondo Genet College of Forestry and Natural Resources, Hawassa University and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Coordinated Research Project (CRP D1 50.16) Minimizing Farming Impacts on Climate Change by Enhancing Carbon and Nitrogen Capture and Storage in Agro-Ecosystems.

Author contributions

D-GK, BT, SG, HK, NM, and TMW conceived and designed the study, D-GK, BT, SG, HK, and NM carried out field and lab works, D-GK wrote the manuscript, and D-GK and TMW revised the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wondo Genet College of Forestry and Natural Resources, Hawassa University, PO Box 128, Shashemene, Ethiopia

    Dong-Gill Kim, Berhanu Terefe, Shimelis Girma, Haji Kedir, Nebi Morkie & Tefera Mengistu Woldie

  2. Ministry of Environment and Forest, PO Box 12760, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    Tefera Mengistu Woldie

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  1. Dong-Gill Kim
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  2. Berhanu Terefe
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  3. Shimelis Girma
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  6. Tefera Mengistu Woldie
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Correspondence to Dong-Gill Kim.

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Kim, DG., Terefe, B., Girma, S. et al. Conversion of home garden agroforestry to crop fields reduced soil carbon and nitrogen stocks in Southern Ethiopia. Agroforest Syst 90, 251–264 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-015-9851-5

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