ABSTRACT The objective of the study was to identify the potential for soil C sequestration associated with the establishment of a botanical garden in the tropics. Since forest resources are dwindling and home gardens are limited botanical gardens could play a major role in mitigating CO2 in the urban environment. This study determined C sequestration and nutrient availability of different thematic areas of a botanical garden 10 years after establishment in comparison with the primary land use, a dry zone forest at the establishment. The establishment of the botanical garden has created a significant improvement of the soil properties with compared to the primary land use. The soil C stocks were significantly high in the botanical garden with compared to the primary land use (7.3 t ha−1). Thematic areas such as Arboretum Part B (13.04 t ha−1), Herbal Garden (12.5 t ha−1) and Valley path (13.23 t ha−1) contained the highest amount of C in soil. Management practices used in maintaining this botanical garden may have affected the soil organic carbon and nutrient status of soil. This study showed that botanical gardens established in urban areas have a great capacity to store C and thereby to mitigate global warming.

中文翻译：

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建立植物园对热带土壤碳固存和养分有效性的影响

摘要 本研究的目的是确定与在热带地区建立植物园相关的土壤固碳潜力。由于森林资源正在减少，家庭花园有限，植物园可以在减少城市环境中的二氧化碳方面发挥重要作用。本研究确定了建立 10 年后植物园不同主题区域的碳封存和养分可用性，与主要土地利用（建立的干旱区森林）进行了比较。与原始土地利用相比，植物园的建立显着改善了土壤特性。与主要土地利用（7.3 t ha-1）相比，植物园中的土壤碳储量显着较高。主题区，例如植物园 B 部分（13.04 吨公顷-1），Herbal Garden (12.5 t ha-1) 和 Valley path (13.23 t ha-1) 的土壤中碳含量最高。用于维护该植物园的管理实践可能影响了土壤的有机碳和土壤养分状况。这项研究表明，在城市地区建立的植物园具有巨大的储存碳的能力，从而缓解全球变暖。