• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.41 no.12
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• pp.336-344
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• 2017

Background: Because of climate change, interest in the development of carbon pools has increased. In agricultural ecosystems, which can be more intensively managed than forests, measures to control carbon dioxide ($CO_2$) emission and absorption levels can be applied relatively easily. However, crop residues may be released into the atmosphere by decomposition or combustion. If we can develop scientific management techniques that enable these residues to be stocked on farmland, then it would be possible to convert farmlands from carbon emission sources to carbon pools. We analyzed and investigated soil respiration (Rs) rate characteristics according to input of carbonized residue of red peppers (Capsicum annuum L.), a widely grown crop in Korea, as a technique for increasing farmland carbon stock. Results: Rs rate in the carbonized biomass (CB) section was $226.7mg\;CO_2\;m^{-2}h^{-1}$, which was 18.1% lower than the $276.9mg\;CO_2\;m^{-2}h^{-1}$ from the red pepper residue biomass (RB) section. The Rs rate of the control was $184.1mg\;CO_2\;m^{-2}h^{-1}$. In the following year, Rs in the CB section was $204.0mg\;CO_2\;m{-2}h^{-1}$, which was 38.2% lower than the $330.1mg\;CO_2\;m^{-2}h^{-1}$ from the RB section; the control emitted $198.6mg\;CO_2\;m^{-2}h^{-1}$. Correlation between Rs and soil temperature ((Ts) at a depth of 5 cm) was $R^2=0.51$ in the RB section, which was higher than the other experimental sections. A comparison of annual decomposition rates between RB and CB showed a large difference, 41.4 and 9.7%, respectively. The results showed that carbonization of red pepper residues reduced the rates of decomposition and Rs. Conclusions: The present study confirmed that the Rs rate can be reduced by carbonization of residue biomass and putting it in the soil and that the Rs rate and Ts (5 cm) were positively correlated. Based on the results, it was determined that approximately $1.2t\;C\;ha^{-1}$ were sequestered in the soil in the first year and $3.0t\;C\;ha^{-1}$ were stored the following year. Therefore, approximately $1.5t\;C\;ha^{-1}year^{-1}$ are expected to be stocked in the soil, making it possible to develop farmlands into carbon pools.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.110 no.4
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• pp.554-568
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• 2021

Forests are the largest carbon (C) sinks in terrestrial ecosystems. Recently, as enhancing forest C sequestration capacity has been proposed as a basic direction of the Republic of Korea's "2050 Carbon Neutral Strategy," accurate estimation of forest C sequestration has been emphasized. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change guidelines, sequestration quantity is calculated from changes in C stocks in forest C pools, such as biomass, deadwood, litter and soil layer, and harvested wood products. However, in Korea, only the overstory biomass increase is now considered the amount of sequestration quantity, so there can be a significant difference from the actual forest C sequestration. In this study, we quantified forest C exchange through C flux measurement using an eddy covariance system and an automated soil chamber system in a 57-year-old Korean pine plantation located in Mt. Taehwa, Gwangju-si, Gyeonggi-do. Then, the net amount of C sequestration was compared with the amount of the overstory biomass increase. We estimated the annual C stock change in the remaining C pools by comparing the net sequestration amount from the C flux measurement with the overstory biomass increase and C stock change in the litter layer. Therefore, the net C sequestration of the Korean pine plantation estimated from the flux measurement was 5.96 MgC ha^-1, which was about 2.2 times greater than 2.77 MgC ha^-1 of the overstory biomass increase. The annual C stock increase in the litter layer was estimated to be 0.75 MgC ha^-1, resulting in a total annual C stock increase of 2.45 MgC ha^-1 in the remaining C pools. Our results indicate that the domestic forest is a larger C sink than the current methods, implying that more accurate calculations of the C sequestration capacity are necessary to quantify C stock changes in C pools along with the C flux measurement.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.282-291
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• 2022

Background: The Arctic permafrost stores enormous amount of carbon (C), about one third of global C stocks. However, drastically increasing temperature in the Arctic makes the stable frozen C stock vulnerable to microbial decomposition. The released carbon dioxide from permafrost can cause accelerating C feedback to the atmosphere. Soil organic matter (SOM) composition would be the basic information to project the trajectory of C under rapidly changing climate. However, not many studies on SOM characterization have been done compared to quantification of SOM stocks. Thus, the purpose of our study is to determine soil properties and molecular compositions of SOM in four different Arctic regions. We collected soils in different soil layers from 1) Cambridge Bay, Canada, 2) Council, Alaska, USA, 3) Svalbard, Norway, and 4) Zackenberg, Greenland. The basic soil properties were measured, and the molecular composition of SOM was analyzed through pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (py-GC/MS). Results: The Oi layer of soil in Council, Alaska showed the lowest soil pH and the highest electrical conductivity (EC) and SOM content. All soils in each site showed increasing pH and decreasing SOC and EC values with soil depth. Since the Council site was moist acidic tundra compared to other three dry tundra sites, soil properties were distinct from the others: high SOM and EC, and low pH. Through the py-GC/MS analysis, a total of 117 pyrolysis products were detected from 32 soil samples of four different Arctic soils. The first two-axis of the PCA explained 38% of sample variation. While short- and mid-hydrocarbons were associated with mineral layers, lignins and polysaccharides were linked to organic layers of Alaska and Cambridge Bay soil. Conclusions: We conclude that the py-GC/MS results separated soil samples mainly based on the origin of SOM (plants- or microbially-derived). This molecular characteristics of SOM can play a role of controlling SOM degradation to warming. Thus, it should be further investigated how the SOM molecular characteristics have impacts on SOM dynamics through additional laboratory incubation studies and microbial decomposition measurements in the field.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.258-266
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• 2023

This study analyzed methodologies for estimating carbon stocks of perennial woody crops and the research cases in overseas countries. As a result, we found that Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, and Japan are using the stock-difference method, while Austria, Denmark, and Germany are estimating the change in the carbon stock based on the gain-loss method. In some overseas countries, the researches were conducted on estimating the carbon stock change using image data as tier 3 phase beyond the research developing country-specific factors as tier 2 phase. In South Korea, convergence studies as the third stage were conducted in forestry field, but advanced research in the agricultural field is at the beginning stage. Based on these results, we suggest directions for the following four future researches: 1) securing national-specific factors related to emissions and removals in the agricultural field through the development of allometric equation and carbon conversion factors for perennial woody crops to improve the completeness of emission and removals statistics, 2) implementing policy studies on the cultivation area calculation refinement with fruit tree-biomass-based maturity, 3) developing a more advanced estimation technique for perennial woody crops in the agricultural sector using allometric equation and remote sensing techniques based on the agricultural and forestry satellite scheduled to be launched in 2025, and to establish a matrix and monitoring system for perennial woody crop cultivation areas in the agricultural sector, Lastly, 4) estimating soil carbon stocks change, which is currently estimated by treating all agricultural areas as one, by sub-land classification to implement a dynamic carbon cycle model. This study suggests a detailed guideline and advanced methods of carbon stock change calculation for perennial woody crops, which supports 2050 Carbon Neutral Strategy of Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs and activate related research in agricultural sector.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.417-425
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• 2023

As climate change gets severe, the ecosystem acts as an important carbon sink, therefore efforts are being made to utilize these functions to mitigate climate change. In this study, we inventoried and analyzed the previous studies related to carbon storage and flux by ecosystem type (forest, cropland, wetland, grassland, and settlement) and carbon pool (aboveground and belowground biomass, dead wood, Litter, soil organic carbon, and ecosystem) in Korean ecosystems. We also collected the results of previous studies and calculated the average value of carbon storage and flux for each ecosystem type and carbon pool. As a result, we found that most (66%) of Korea's carbon storage and fluxes studies were conducted in forests. Based on the results of forest studies, we estimated the storage by carbon stock. We found that much carbon is stored in vegetation (aboveground: 4,018.32 gC m^-2 and belowground biomass: 4,095.63 gC m^-2) and soil (4,159.43 gC m^-2). In particular, a large amount of carbon is stored in the forest understory. For other ecosystem types, it was impossible to determine each carbon pool's storage and flux due to data limitations. However, in the case of soil organic carbon storage, the data for forests and grasslands were comparable, showing that both ecosystems store relatively similar amounts of carbon (4,159.43 gC m^-2, 4,023.23 gC m^-2, respectively). This study confirms the need to study carbon in rather diverse ecosystem types.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.5-11
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• 2022

This research evaluated the long-term application effects of different soil amendments on yield, dissolved organic carbon, nitrogen and soil organic carbon stock in rice paddy. The experiment consisted of four different fertilizations; Inorganic fertilization (NPK), NPK+Lime (NPKL), NPK+Silicate (NPKS), NPK+Compost (NPKC). There was no significant difference in rice yield between the treatment groups in 1995, but the rice yields in the NPKL and NPKC treatments in 2019 increased by 4.3% and 14.3% compared to NPK. In terms of soil properties, the pH of NPKS(6.7) and NPKL(6.4) in 2019 increased the most compared to the soil pH before experiment(5.2). The organic matter(OM) content from NPKC treatment increased upto 34 and 27 g kg^-1 in year of 1995 and 2019, respectively, compared to before the test. In NPKS and NPKL treatment, labile carbon and nitrogen content, used as a soil quality indicator, increased by 1.1-1.9 times over the control. From these result, it is suggested that type and application rate of soil amendment should be determined based on the soil analysis before cultivation for sustainable agricultural environment and productivity.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.73-78
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• 2016

Bhutanese forests have been well preserved and can sequester the atmospheric carbon (C). In spite of its importance, understanding Bhutanese forest C dynamics was very limited due to the lack of available data. However, forest C model can simulate forest C dynamics with comparatively limited data and references. In this study, we aimed to simulate Bhutanese forest C dynamics at 6 plots with the Forest Biomass and Dead organic matter Carbon (FBDC) model, which can simulate forest C cycles with small amount of input data. The total forest C stock ($Mg\;C\;ha^{-1}$) ranged from 118.35 to 200.04 with an average of 168.41. The C stocks ($Mg\;C\;ha^{-1}$) in biomass, litter, dead wood, and mineral soil were 3.40-88.13, 4.24-24.95, 1.99-20.31, 91.45-97.90, respectively. On average, the biomass, litter, dead wood, and mineral soil accounted for 36.0, 5.5, 2.5, and 56.0% of the total C stocks, respectively. Although our modeling approach was applied at a small pilot scale, it exhibited a potential to report Bhutanese forest C inventory with reliable methodology. In order to report the national forest C inventory, field work for major tree species and forest types in Bhutan are required.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.8-25
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• 2020

Background: Species of the genera Eucalyptus, Cupressus, and Pinus are the most widely planted tree species in the country in general and in Chilimo dry Afromontane forest in particular. Eucalyptus covers 90% of the total planted forest area in the country. However, only limited information exists in the country regarding aboveground biomass (AGB), belowground biomass (BGB), growth, and yield. This study was conducted to assess the variables on 25 and 30 years of age for three planted species: Cupressus lusitanica, Eucalyptus saligna, and Pinus patula in Chilimo plantation forest, in the Central Highlands of Ethiopia. A two-times inventory was conducted in 2012 and 2017. A total of nine square sampled plots of 400 ㎡ each, three plots under Cupressus lusitanica, 3 Eucalyptus saligna, and 3 Pinus patula were used for data collection. Data on height, diameter, soil, and tree stumps were collected. Percent C, % N, and bulk density was performed following chemical procedure. Results: The aboveground biomass ranged from 125.76 to 228.67 t C ha^-1 and the basal area and number of stems from 3.76 to 25.50 ㎡ ha^-1 and 483 to 1175 N ha^-1, respectively. The mean annual basal area and volume increment were between 0.97 and 1.20 ㎡ ha^-1 year^-1 and 10.79 and 16.22 ㎥ ha^-1 year^-1. Both carbon and nitrogen stock of the planted forest was non-significant among the tree species. Conclusion: The aboveground biomass, growth, and yield significantly varied among the species. Cupressus lusitanica had the highest aboveground biomass, volume, and basal area, while Eucalyptus saligna had the lowest value. To a depth of 1 m, total carbon stored ranged from 130.13 to 234.26 t C ha^-1. The total annual carbon sequestration potential was 12,575.18 t CO₂ eq. Eucalyptus has the highest carbon stock density and growth rate than other species.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.25-36
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• 2020

Area exclosure is a widely practiced intervention of restoring degraded lands though its impact in sequestering terrestrial and soil carbon is scanty. The study was initiated to investigate the effect of exclosure of different ages on carbon sequestration potential of restoring degraded dryland ecosystems in eastern Tigray, northern Ethiopia. Twelve plots each divided into three layers were randomly selected from 5, 10 and 15 years old exclosures and paired adjacent open grazing land. Tree and shrub biomasses were determined using destructive sampling while herb layer biomass was determined using total harvest. The average total biomass obtained were 13.6, 24.8, 27.1, and 55.5 Mg ha^-1 for open grazing, 5 years, 10 years, and 15 years exclosures respectively. The carbon content of plant species ranged between 48 to 53 percent of a dry biomass. The total carbon stored in the 5 years, 10 years and 15 years age exclosures were 39 Mg C ha^-1, 46.3 Mg C ha^-1, and 64.6 Mg C ha^-1 respectively while in the open grazing land the value was 24.7 Mg C ha^-1. Carbon stock is age dependent and increases with age. The difference in total carbon content between exclosures and open grazing land varied between 14.3-40 Mg C ha^-1. Although it is difficult to extrapolate this result for a longer future, the average annual carbon being sequestered in the oldest exclosure was about 2.7 Mg C ha^-1 yr^-1. In view of improving degraded area and sequestering carbon, area exclosures are promising options.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.113-121
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• 2020

This study was carried out in degraded and non-degraded community forests (CF) in the Terai region of Kanchanpur district, Nepal. A total of 63 concentric sample plots each of 500 ㎡ was laid in the inventory for estimating above and below-ground biomass of forests by using systematic random sampling with a sampling intensity of 0.5%. Mallotus philippinensis and Shorea robusta were the most dominant species in degraded and non-degraded CF accounting Importance Value Index (I.V.I) of 97.16 and 178.49, respectively. Above-ground tree biomass carbon in degraded and non-degraded community forests was 74.64±16.34 t ha^-1 and 163.12±20.23 t ha^-1, respectively. Soil carbon sequestration in degraded and non-degraded community forests was 42.55±3.10 t ha^-1 and 54.21±3.59 t ha^-1, respectively. Hence, the estimated total carbon stock was 152.68±22.95 t ha^-1 and 301.08±27.07 t ha^-1 in degraded and non-degraded community forests, respectively. It was found that the carbon sequestration in the non-degraded community forest was 1.97 times higher than in the degraded community forest. CO₂ equivalent in degraded and non-degraded community forests was 553 t ha^-1 and 1105 t ha^-1, respectively. Statistical analysis showed a significant difference between degraded and non-degraded community forests in terms of its total biomass and carbon sequestration potential (p<0.05). Studies indicate that the community forest has huge potential and can reward economic benefits from carbon trading to benefit from the REDD⁺/CDM mechanism by promoting the sustainable conservation of community forests.