• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.163-173
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• 2018

Background: Deforestation and degradation are currently affecting the ecosystem services of forests. Among the ecosystem services affected by deforestation and degradation are the amount of soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) stored in forest soils which have greater impacts in global climate change. This study aimed at examining the amount of SOC and TN in the forest fragments which were separated from the continuous tracts of forests of Jibat and Chillimo through fragmentation processes over four decades. Methods: We have sampled soils from 15 forest fragments of Chillimo and Jibat in the central highlands of Ethiopia. The soil samples obtained in two separate soil depths (0-30 and 30-60 cm) were bulked, dried, and sieved for analysis. Results: Our results have shown that the two sites (Jibat and Chillimo forest fragments) differed in their SOC and TN contents. While the values for Jibat were found to be 29.89 Mg/ha of SOC and 2.84 Mg/ha for TN, it was 14. 06 Mg/ha of SOC and 1.40 Mg/ha for TN for Chillimo. When all forest fragment soil samples were bulked together, Jibat site had twice the value of SOC and TN than Chillimo. When disaggregated on the basis of each fragments, there existed differences in SOC (1.86 Mg/ha and 42.15 Mg/ha) and TN (0.24 Mg/ha and 4.23 Mg/ha) values. Among the forest fragments, fragment four ($F_4$) had the highest Relative Soil Improvement Index (RSII) value of 3826.82% and fragment fifteen ($F_{15}$) had the lowest RSII value (726.87%) which indicated that the former had a better quality of soil properties than the latter. Conclusion: SOC and TN differed across sampled fragments and sites. Variations in soil properties are the reflections of inherent soil parent material, aboveground vegetation, human interferences, and other physical factors. Such differences could be very important for identifying intervention measures for restoration and enhancing ecosystem services of those fragments.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.69-79
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• 2014

Soil organic carbon (SOC) in the Arctic is vulnerable to climate change. However, research on SOC stored in the high Arctic regions is currently very limited. Thus, this study was aimed at understanding the distribution and characteristics of SOC with respect to geomorphology and vegetation in Svalbard. In August 2011, soil samples were collected near the Vestre Lov$\acute{e}$nbreen moraine. Sampling sites were chosen according to altitude (High, Mid, and Low) and differences in levels of vegetation establishment. Vegetation coverage, aboveground biomass, and SOC contents were measured, and density-size fractionation of SOC was conducted. The SOC content was the highest in the Mid site ($126.9mg\;g^{-1}$) and the lowest in the High site ($32.1mg\;g^{-1}$), although aboveground biomass and vegetation coverage were not different between these two sites. The low SOC content measured at the High site could be related to a slower soil development following glacial retreat. On the other hand, the Low site contained a high amount of SOC despite having low vegetative cover and a high ratio of sand particles. These incompatible relationships between SOC and vegetation in the Low site might be associated with past site disturbances such as runoff from snow/glacier melting. This study showed that geomorphological features combined with glacier retreat or melting snow/glacier effects could have affected the SOC distribution and vegetation establishment in the high Arctic.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2022.05a
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• pp.159-159
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• 2022

Soil represents a substantial component within the global carbon cycle and small changes in the SOC stock may result in large changes of atmospheric CO₂ particularly over tens to hundreds of years. In this study, we aim to (i) evaluate the SOC stock in the topsoil 0 - 15 cm from soil physical and chemical characteristics and (ii) find the correlation of SOC and soil organic matter (SOM) for national-scale in South Korea. First of all, based on the characteristics of the soil to calculate the soil hydraulic properties, SOC stock is the SOC mass per unit area for a given depth. It depends on bulk density (BD-g/cm³), SOC content (%), the depth of topsoil (cm), and gravel content (%). Due to insufficient data on BD observation, we establish a correlation between BD and SOC content, sand content, clay content parameter. Next, we present linear and non-linear regression models of BD and the interrelationship between SOC and SOM using a linear regression model and determine the conversion factor for them, comparing with Van Bemmelen 1890's factor value for the country scale. The results obtained, helps managers come up with suitable solutions to conserve land resources.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.17-21
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• 2007

The organic carbon (OC) distribution of Pinus densiflora forest in Songgye valley at Mt. Worak National Park were studied as a part of the National Long-Term Ecological Research in Korea. In order to investigate the OC distribution, OC in plant biomass, litterfall, litter layer on forest floor, and soil were estimated. The density of P. densiflora forest was 1,300 trees/ha, average DBH was $15.2{\pm}6.17\;cm$ and average tree height was $10.7{\pm}2.56\;m$. The shrub layer was dominated by shrubby Quercus variabilis, Fraxinus sieboldiana and lndigofera kirilowii with low frequency, and herb layer was dominated by Pteridium aquilinum and Miscanthus sinensis. Total amount of OC stored in this pine forest was 142.78 ton C/ha. Organic carbon stored in soil and plant biomass accounted for 59.2% and 37.8%, respectively. Amount of OC distributed in trees, shrubs, herbs and litter layer in this pine forest was 51.79, 2.03, 0.12 and 4.29 ton C/ha, respectively. Amount of OC returned to forest floor via litterfall was $1.50\;ton\;C\;ha^{-1}\;yr^{-1}$. Soil organic carbon (SOC) decreased along the soil depth. Total amount of SOC within 50cm soil depth was $84.55\;ton\;C\;ha^{-1}\;50\;cm-depth^{-1}$.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2016

Carbonized biomass could be used as a mechanism for long-term storage of C in soils. However, experimental results are variable. Objective of this study was carried out to evaluate the effect of carbonized biomass made from soybean residue on soil organic carbon and seed yield during soybean cultivation. The carbonized biomass was made by field scale mobile pyrolyzer. Pyrolyzer was performed in a reactor operated at $400{\sim}500^{\circ}C$ for 2 hours using soybean residue. The treatments consisted of four levels as the control without input and three levels of carbonized biomass inputs as $357kg\;ha^{-1}$, C-1 ; $714kg\;ha^{-1}$, C-2 ; $1,428kg\;ha^{-1}$, C-3. It was appeared that seed yield of soybean was $2,847kg\;ha^{-1}$ for control, $2,897kg\;ha^{-1}$ for C-1, $2,946kg\;ha^{-1}$ for C-2 and $3,211kg\;ha^{-1}$ for C-3 at the end of experiment. It was shown that the contents of SOC were $5.21g\;kg^{-1}$ for C-1, $5.93g\;kg^{-1}$ for C-2, $7.00g\;kg^{-1}$ for C-3 and $4.73g\;kg^{-1}$ for the control at the end of experiment. Accumulated SOC contents linearly significantly (P < 0.001) increased with increasing the carbonized biomass input. The slopes (0.00162) of the regression equations suggest that SOC contents from the soil increase by $0.162g\;kg^{-1}$ with every $100kg\;ha^{-1}$ increase of carbonized biomass rate. Consequently the carbonized biomass for byproducts such as soybean residue could increase SOC. It might be considered that the experimental results will be applied to soil carbon sequestration for future study. More long-term studies are needed to prove how long does SOC stay in agricultural soils.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• 2007.10a
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• pp.98-100
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• 2007

Tropical forests have variety of biodiversity values, which provide invaluable services to the living being on earth. In the recent years, tropical forests are regarded as valuable global resources that act as sink for carbon dioxide in order to mitigate global climatic change. In many parts of the world, tropical forests are being rapidly cleared by various means. Soil organic carbon (SOC) is concentrated in the upper 12 inches of the soil. So it is readily depleted owing to the degradation activities. In the present study, it was aimed to assess the magnitude of disturbance in the availability of SOC in a semi- evergreen forest, situated in the Eastern Ghats of Tamil Nadu, India. The forest density of this region was mapped with QuickBird satellite data. Intensive field soil sampling and floristic study were conducted to estimate the SOC status in different density classes and to identify the species availability. The SOC density ranged from 274.06 t/ha to 147.84 t/ha in the very dense and degraded semi-evergreen forest respectively. The SOC content was also varied from 3.70 to 1.83 % in the very dense semi-evergreen and medium semi-evergreen forests respectively. The species composition in different density classes was also varied considerably. As a result of this study, it was identified that the disturbance to forests by various means not only affect the density of forests but also affect the below ground SOC status proportionately.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.1108-1113
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• 2012

The changes of soil organic carbon (SOC) content in paddy soils (sandy loam) were assessed from data of the 59 years fertilization plots in which the continuous rice cropping experiment started in 1954. The treatments were no fertilization(no fert.), NPK fertilization (N, NPK), NPK plus rice straw compost (NPK+C), and NPK plus rice straw compost, silicate fertilizer and lime (NPK+CLS). After 41 years, SOC content in NPK+C and NPK+CLS treatment in surface soils (0~15 cm) reached at the highest, followed by maintaining a plateau level for 8 years. After 51 years, they showed a tendency to decrease. Peak concentrations of soil organic carbon were $20.1g\;kg^{-1}$ in NPK+CLS, $19.1g\;kg^{-1}$ in NPK+C, $13.3g\;kg^{-1}$ in NPK, $11.9g\;kg^{-1}$ in N, and $11.6g\;kg^{-1}$ in control. Dissolved organic carbon(DOC) contents in surface soil solution were about 2.3 times higher in NPK+C than that in NPK+CLS. Therefore, SOC in subsurface soil(15~30 cm) was greater in NPK+C than the other treatments. These results indicate that continuous application of rice straw compost and silicate fertilizer affected significantly on the level of SOC in surface soils, subsurface soils, and soil solutions. Thus, the combined applications of NPK fertilizers with organic compost and silicate as a soil amendment are recommended as the best fertilization practice for soil carbon accumulation, environment conservation, and enhancement of soil fertility status in the continuous rice cropping system.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.99-104
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• 2011

BACKGROUND: Application of urea may increase $CO_2$ emission from soils due both to $CO_2$ generation from urea hydrolysis and fertilizer-induced decomposition of soil organic carbon (SOC). The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of increasing urea application on $CO_2$ emission from soil and mineralization kinetics of indigenous SOC. METHODS AND RESULTS: Emission of $CO_2$ from a soil amended with four different rates (0, 175, 350, and 700 mg N/kg soil) of urea was investigated in a laboratory incubation experiment for 110 days. Cumulative $CO_2$ emission ($C_{cum}$) was linearly increased with urea application rate due primarily to the contribution of urea-C through hydrolysis to total $CO_2$ emission. First-order kinetics parameters ($C_0$, mineralizable SOC pool size; k, mineralization rate) became greater with increasing urea application rate; $C_0$ increased from 665.1 to 780.3 mg C/kg and k from 0.024 to 0.069 $day^{-1}$, determinately showing fertilizer-induced SOC mineralization. The relationship of $C_0$ (non-linear) and k (linear) with urea-N application rate revealed different responses of $C_0$ and k to increasing rate of fertilizer N. CONCLUSION(s): The relationship of mineralizable SOC pool size and mineralization rate with urea-N application rate suggested that increasing N fertilization may accelerate decomposition of readily decomposable SOC; however, it may not always stimulate decomposition of non-readily decomposable SOC that is protected from microbial decomposition.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.292-297
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• 2007

Global warming and climate changes have been major issues for decades andvarious researches have reported their impact on our environment. According to recent researches, increased carbon dioxide ($CO_2$) concentration in the atmosphere is considered as a dominant contributor to global climate changes and thus numerous researches were conducted to control $CO_2$ concentration in the atmosphere. Soil management practices, such as reducing tillage intensity, returning plant residues, and enhancing cropping system have recommended for restoring organic carbon into the soils effectively. However, few studies on soil carbon sequestration have reported for Korean paddy soils. Therefore, evaluation of soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics in the long-term single rice cropping system is essential in order to find out potential capacity of paddy field as a carbon sink source. The objective of this research was to evaluate SOC dynamics on the long-term single rice cropping system. Research was conducted in the research farm at National Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology, Rural Development Administration, Suwon. Long-term phosphorus and potassium fertilization and lime application didn't significantly affect on SOC compared to controls. We found that SOC contents were increased continually at the long-term composting plots with enhanced rate of carbon storage. In conclusion, continuous incorporation of plant residues (i.e., composting) is recommended to effectively sequester soil carbon for Korean paddy soils. This result implies that continuous composting in a paddy field may contributenot only for increasing SOC in the soils but also for mitigating global warming through reducing carbon dioxide emission into atmosphere. Therefore, we recommend that a strategy or policy measures to encourage farmers to return plant residues continuously for mitigation of global warming as well as soil fertility is being developed.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.623-640
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• 2013

Soil organic carbon (SOC) of soil series is necessary to calculate soil C sequestration due to IPCC default categorized by climate regions and by soil types. The 3,400 thousand data were downloaded from agricultural soil information system and analyzed to get averages of soil order, soil series, and textual family for the three different soil management practices in Korea. The SOC content was $13.3{\pm}5.38g\;kg^{-1}$ in paddy field, $13.7{\pm}7.19g\;kg^{-1}$ in upland field, and $15.2{\pm}8.22g\;kg^{-1}$ in orchard soil, respectively. As SOC in orchard was 10% greater than that in upland, orchard must be managed with applying compost. The SOCs of inceptisols, which was largely distributed in Korea, were $13.6{\pm}5.48g\;kg^{-1}$ in paddy field, $14.1{\pm}7.38g\;kg^{-1}$ in upland field, and $15.3{\pm}8.20g\;kg^{-1}$ in orchard soil, respectively. The SOCs of alfisols were $13.6{\pm}4.96g\;kg^{-1}$ in paddy field, $13.7{\pm}6.99g\;kg^{-1}$ in upland field, and $15.6{\pm}8.59g\;kg^{-1}$ in orchard soil, respectively. The SOCs of entisols were $11.7{\pm}5.16g\;kg^{-1}$ in paddy field, $12.8{\pm}7.05g\;kg^{-1}$ in upland field, and $13.7{\pm}7.81g\;kg^{-1}$ in orchard soil, respectively. The SOCs of ultisols were $12.7{\pm}4.79g\;kg^{-1}$ in paddy field, $12.7{\pm}6.22g\;kg^{-1}$ in upland field, and $16.3{\pm}8.49g\;kg^{-1}$ in orchard soil, respectively. The fact that soils containing greater clay content in textual family had also more SOC content revealed that SOC could be also dependent on some soil properties as well as soil order. Because SOC differences among soil series representing same textual family were greater than those among textual family, SOC differences should be mainly affected by management practices such as compost application.