Carbon Sequestration Capacity in Rangeland Ecosystems and it's Relation with Soil Physical and Chemical Characteristics in Rangelands of Khoy

Increasing carbon sequestration in soil is an efficient method to decrease concentration of atmospheric CO2 and has a considerable role in reduction of problems caused by climate change and air pollution which recently has been considered as an attractive issue for many of the researchers. In this study, capacity of carbon sequestration and it's relation with soil physical and chemical characteristics in three different sites of Khoy rangelands was investigated. In this regard, soil samples were collected from depths of 0-15 and 15-30 centimeters. The results showed that total organic carbon concentration in sites of one and two and in third site were respectively equal to 26.89, 24.66 and 18.15 tons per hectare, and the highest amount of accumulated carbon was related to first site. In all of the studied sites, highest amounts of soil organic carbon were related to depth of 15-30centimeters samples. The results obtained from stepwise regression analysis indicated that percent of nitrogen concentration, bulk density and lime content of soil were respectively the most effective factors on organic carbon content of the soil in investigated sites. Generally optimal management of rangeland ecosystems has an important role in improvement of atmospheric carbon sequestration capacity.