Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

PHYSICO-CHEMICAL AND CARBON STOCK ANALYSIS OF SOIL UNDER FOREST ECOSYSTEM

Veena Meshram, Deepa Biswas and Vasu Choudhary

Abstract

Temperature and moisture levels in the soil are two of the most important factors that determine the rate of soil respiration. Changes in the microclimate of the soil throughout the year play an essential part in determining seasonal fluctuations in the amount of carbon dioxide that is emitted from the soil at individual locations, and climatic variances because varying rates of soil respiration at distant sites. In forest ecosystems, one essential step in the cycling of carbon is the transfer of carbon dioxide from the soil to the atmosphere. The in-situ measurement of the increase in CO2 concentration at the soil’s surface is often what is meant when people talk about “soil respiration.” At the level of soils, CO2 emission is induced by both plant and microbial activities, including root respiration and the breakdown of organic matter in soil and litter. According to some reports, soils are responsible for between 60 and 80 percent of the overall respiration of an ecosystem. Microorganisms that live in the soil and the litter are responsible for the vast majority of heterotrophic respiration that occurs in forest ecosystems. A measurement of soil respiration in a substrate that is deteriorating has been recognised as a helpful indication of the rate of decomposition and mineralization of organic matter, as well as the cycling of carbon in an ecosystem, and as an index of relative soil biological activity. In order to investigate the physicochemical properties, bacterial and fungal populations, and soil respiration of various land use zones in Indian forest, the present study was carried out.