Correlations between soil organic carbon, land use and soil type in Serbia

Abstract

Correlation between soil organic carbon (SOC) and land use and soil type were investigated in the soils of the Republic of Serbia. The database included a total of 1,140 soil profiles. To establish the correlation between organic carbon content and soil type, a soil map of Serbia was adapted to the WRB classification and divided into 15,437 polygons (map units). The SOC stock values were calculated for each reference soil group based on mean values of SOC at 0-30 and 0-100 cm and their areas. The largest SOC stocks for the soil layers 0-30 cm were found in Cambisol 194.76 x 1012 g and Leptosol 186.43 x 1012 g and for the soil layers 0-100 cm in Cambisol 274.87 x 1012 g and Chernozem 230.43 x 1012 g. Using the Corine Land Cover (CLC) database, the major categories of land use were defined. Based on the obtained mean values of organic carbon content for the soil layers 0-30 and 0-100 cm and the areas indicated by Corine Land Cover categories of land use, the organic carbon stocks in agricultural soil, forest soil, semi-natural areas, and artificial areas were calculated. The correlation of organic carbon stocks and the different land use categories, soil reference group, and soil depth was studied for reference groups that occupy the major part of central Serbia, such as Cambisol (taking up 37.76% of the territory) and Leptosol (22.22% of the territory), and have a sufficient number of sites that were required for this type of analysis.