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Carbon sequestration by soil and its fractions in tropical agroecosystems of the ecuadorian coastal region

Abstract:

With the objective of evidencing the influence of tropical agro-ecosystems (corn, pasture, cocoa, banana and forest) located in the coastal region of Ecuador on the percentages of total carbon sequestered by the soil, and its coarse and light frac-tions. Soil carbon sequestration is the removal of carbon from the atmosphere through plant photosynthesis and its storage as stable and long-lived forms of organic matter in the soil. The total amount of organic carbon in the soil and the coarse and light fractions were determined by the Walkley-Black method. Soil use influences the TOC content, the five agro-ecosystems studied show different values in carbon sequestration. The soil of the maize crop obtained the lowest values, due to the ex-cess of tillage to which it is subjected and sandy texture; while the other agroecosystems showed greater amount of carbon, corresponding to the forest the highest contents. The pasture agroecosystem, where the land is not tilled, shows similar values (although higher) to corn, possibly due to the overgrazing to which it is subjected. The light and heavy fractions of soil carbon showed a distribution similar to the total carbon.