Carbon stocks, turnover and nutrient budgets in soil along land-use and climatic gradients (Бразил)

Find carbon optimized land management practices.

Aims / objectives: (1) determine the native background stocks of N, P, K, Mg, Ca, and S in soil to a depth of 10 m in the native systems (rain forest and Cerrado).

(2) determine the temporal change in C and nutrient stocks using space-for-time substitution along the pioneer front gradient from central Mato Grosso to south Pará to assess the influence of land use on C and nutrient budgets.

(3) analyze the stocks of bulk C and of C in soil fractions differing in function and turnover to determine the influence of land use and soil management on distribution of SOM into different pools (i.e., analysis of the quantity and quality of C storage in soil).

(4) quantify the C turnover in these fractions by a combination of the stable C isotope and the 14C approaches (i.e., analysis of the sustainability vs. vulnerability of C storage in soil as affected by land use and soil management).

(5) assess the influence of climatic change on these parameters along the climatic gradient from central Mato Grosso to south Pará (i.e., analyze the sustainability vs. vulnerability of C storage in soil as affected by climate change).

(6) parameterize a C and N turnover model (e.g. CANDY, Rühlmann et al. 2006) at plot level and calculate different land-use and climate-change scenarios.

Methods: Analysing carbon stocks – sampling laboratory work (Elementar analyses).
Soil properties of the two most common soil types (texture, bulk density, pH, plant available nutrients, etc.).
Modelling– model the process of carbon storage after land-use change.

Stages of implementation: Transport into meanings – translate scientific results into recommendations for farmes which land-use type is most carbon friendly.

Role of stakeholders: Implementation of land use decision– depending on the soil properties.