Impact of postburn jhum agriculture on soil carbon pools in the north-eastern Himalayan region of India
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Mizoram Centre, Kolasib, Mizoram – 796 081, India.
B ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Umiam, Meghalaya – 793 103, India.
C Corresponding author. Email: lmsingson@gmail.com
Soil Research 56(6) 615-622 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR18031
Submitted: 25 January 2018 Accepted: 28 May 2018 Published: 20 August 2018
Abstract
Land-use change, particularly soil organic carbon (SOC) loss induced by shifting cultivation (jhum) is a common land degradation issue in the hilly tracts of the humid tropics. The SOC concentration comprises different pools (labile and recalcitrant fractions), and each fraction responds to temporal dynamics of adopted management practices at varying magnitudes, such as deforestation followed by cultivation. However, information on the variation of different SOC pools due to cultural practices of vegetation burning and postburn agricultural practices (crop production) associated with shifting cultivation remains inadequate. In the present investigation, we examined the effect of burning and postburning cultivation on SOC pools across different forest fallow periods at Kolasib district, Mizoram state of the north-eastern Himalayan Region of India. Results revealed increase in the soil C stocks and total organic carbon (TOC) due to the increase in the length of fallow periods ranging from 3 to 23 years. The TOC decreased significantly compared with antecedent concentrations before vegetation burning. This was mostly attributed to the reduction in contribution of active pools (very labile and labile) to TOC from 69% to 60%. However, contribution of passive pools (less labile and nonlabile) to TOC concentration increased from 31% to 40%. Postburn cultivation also resulted in reduction of TOC as well as considerable variation in the proportion of different SOC pools to TOC concentration. Among the different pools of SOC, the very labile C pool was most sensitive to land-use change induced by shifting cultivation (phytomass burning and postburn cultivation). The labile SOC pools can act as a sensitive indicator for devising suitable location specific management practices for restoration of soil health through SOC dynamics in degraded jhum lands in hilly ecosystems.
Additional keywords: carbon cycling, ecosystem, land degradation, soil quality.
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