Author(s)

Celia De La Mora-Orozco^1*, José Germán Flores Garnica², Irma Julieta González Acuña³, Juan De Dios Benavides Solorio², César S. Magaña Martínez⁴, Laura Izascum Pérez Valencia⁴

¹Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agrícolas y Pecuarias, Tepatitlán, México.
²Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agrícolas y Pecuarias, Guadalajara, México.
³Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agrícolas y Pecuarias, Santiago Ixcuintla, México.
⁴Instituto Tecnológico José Mario Molina Pasquel y Henríquez, Unidad Académica Arandas, Arandas, México.

Forest ecosystems represent a third of the total organic carbon (TOC) stored in the soil. However, studies still need to be carried out to generate reliable information on its soil carbon storage potential in an experimental plantation. Therefore, the objective of this research was to determine the storage of total organic carbon (TOC) in the soil in two experimental forest plantations with tropical species, located in the state of Nayarit, México. The research was carried out in two experimental plantations with tropical species, located at the Santiago Ixcuintla Experimental Field (CESIX) and at the El Verdine?o Experimental Site (SEEV). The established species are Swietenia macrophylla King (mahogany), Cedrela odorata L. (cedar) and Tabebuia rosea Bertoil (pink trumpet-tree). In addition, data from dasometric variables were used in order to define if any of these variables had a similar variation to the soil TOC stock by species. The sampling was done under a randomized block experimental design in each experimental forest plantation (CESIX and SEEV). Nine composite samples were collected in the soil under the tree species at a depth of 0 - 30 cm, and 1.5 m distance from the tree. To determine the soil TOC, an elemental analyzer with a thermal conductivity detector Thermo Scientific (Flash 2000) was used. The results showed that TOC presented mean values of 103.60 and 219.98 t·ha^-1 at a depth of 0 - 30 cm in CESIX and SEEV respectively. The highest TOC was obtained in soil under mahogany; 142.95 t·ha^-1 in CESIX and 284.41 t·ha^-1 in SEEV. The analysis of the differences in TOC between the two plantations was highly significant. In the analysis of the species, it showed a statistically significant difference (p < 0.0001), defining that the soil under the mahogany, in general, presented the highest stock of TOC. Regarding the TOC in the soil plantation and the dasometric variables, none of the variables analyzed showed the same behavior in its variability.

Carbon Sequestration, Dasometric Variables, Tropical Trees

Mora-Orozco, C. , Garnica, J. , Acuña, I. , Solorio, J. , Martínez, C. and Valencia, L. (2022) Soil Carbon Storage in Experimental Forest Plantations with Tropical Species. Open Journal of Forestry, 12, 1-18. doi: 10.4236/ojf.2022.121001.