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Soil carbon stock changes due to afforestation in Japan by the paired sampling method on an equivalent mass basis

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Abstract

To identify the soil carbon stock changes from croplands/grasslands to forestlands in Japan, we compared the soil carbon stock of a cropland/grassland with that of an adjacent forestland at 22 different sites. With respect to a 0–30-cm depth basis, the soil carbon stock in the cropland/grassland was the same as that in the forestland; however, it was less than that in the forestland when an equivalent mass approach was used. The ratio of the soil carbon stock in the forestland to that in the cropland/grassland was 1.11 on average, which is comparable with previous mass-corrected paired sampling studies. The ratio was affected by two factors: tree age and current vegetation. Mean annual temperature, mean annual precipitation, phosphate absorption coefficient, litter quantity, and former land use did not affect the ratio. According to a comparison with the results of a paired study for deforestation, the application of the reciprocal of the soil carbon stock ratio of deforestation to the ratio of afforestation was slightly overestimated. Further studies are necessary to establish a general conclusion. Some previous studies, including those involving non-mass-corrected data, are possibly biased, and more studies using the paired sampling method with equivalent mass basis must be conducted to provide the general factor for soil carbon stock change in the future.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Environment Research and Technology Development Fund (JPMEERF20162001 and JPMEERF20192009) of the Environmental Restoration and Conservation Agency of Japan. We thank the land owners for allowing to take soil samples from their croplands/grasslands and forestlands. We also thank Drs. Ryusuke Hatano, Seiichi Ohta, and Nobuhisa Koga for their valuable comments about our study and Dr. Kazuyuki Atsumi for his help in the field work. We also thank Ms. Yumiko Okazaki, Ms. Akiyo Kawano, Ms. Yukari Yamamoto, Ms. Yoshiko Shimada, Ms. Yumiko Sakamoto, and Ms. Akane Sakumori for their laboratory assistance.

Funding

Environment Research and Technology Development Fund [grant numbers JPMEERF20162001 and JPMEERF20192009] of the Environmental Restoration and Conservation Agency of Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, 1 Matsunosato, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8687, Japan

    Shigehiro Ishizuka, Shoji Hashimoto, Shinji Kaneko, Kenji Tsuruta, Kimihiro Kida & Shuhei Aizawa

  2. Hokkaido Research Center, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, 7 Hitsujigaoka, Toyohiraku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 062-8516, Japan

    Toru Hashimoto, Eriko Ito & Mitsutoshi Umemura

  3. Tohoku Research Center, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, 92-25 Nabeyashiki, Shimokuriyagawa, , Morioka, Iwate, 020-0123, Japan

    Yoshiki Shinomiya, Tomoaki Morishita, Kyotaro Noguchi & Kenji Ono

  4. Kansai Research Center, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, 68 Nagaikyutaroh, Momoyama, Fushimi, Kyoto, Kyoto, 612-0855, Japan

    Toru Okamoto, Takeo Mizoguchi & Atsushi Torii

  5. Shikoku Research Center, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, 2-915 Asakuranishi, Kochi, Kochi, 780-8077, Japan

    Hisao Sakai, Yoshiyuki Inagaki & Koji Shichi

  6. Kyushu Research Center, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, 4-11-16 Kurokami, Kumamoto, Kumamoto, 860-0862, Japan

    Jumpei Toriyama, Yoshimi Sakai & Masahiro Inagaki

  7. Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, 3-1-3 Kannondai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8604, Japan

    Yasuhito Shirato, Hiroshi Obara, Kazunori Kohyama, Yuusuke Takata, Nobuko Katayanagi, Takashi Kanda & Haruna Inoue

  8. Kyushu Okinawa Agricultural Research Center, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, 2421 Suya, Koshi, Kumamoto, 861-1192, Japan

    Takashi Kusaba

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  1. Shigehiro Ishizuka
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Ishizuka, S., Hashimoto, S., Kaneko, S. et al. Soil carbon stock changes due to afforestation in Japan by the paired sampling method on an equivalent mass basis. Biogeochemistry 153, 263–281 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-021-00786-8

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