The impact of wild pear (Pyrus syriaca and P. globra) stand management on carbon ‎storage of soil and litters and some soil characteristics (case study: Dehkohneh forest of ‎Sepidan, Fars Province)‎

Soil in forest ecosystems is a giant source for storage of atmospheric carbon that would increase its contribution against climate warming under proper management. In the current research, soil and litter contribution in carbon sequestration were compared between a 50 years old enclosure (less degraded) and un- enclosure (degraded) wild pear stands. Besides, some soil characteristics including soil moisture, bulk density, organic carbon, total nitrogen, phosphorus, and soil microbial respiration were studied. In each stand, 5 soil samples and 10 litter samples were collected from each plot and the characteristics were compared with T-student independent analysis. The results clearly indicated that soil carbon storage and carbon storage in coarse litter due to greater tree covers in enclosure field were two times higher than un- enclos6ure. Meanwhile, carbon storage in fine litter was same in the both stands. Phousphurus content and total nitrogen in soil of enclosure field were 6 and 2 times higher than un- inclosure, respectively. Moisture content Not only was higher in less degraded field (36%) in comparison with degraded one (21%) but also soil microbial respiration in less degraded field was higher around 31% when compared with degraded field. Finally, it can be proposed that enclosure management not only can improve soil carbon storage more than two times but also can increase soil fertility. This finding highlights the importance of enclosure management in Zagros region for maintaining of soil functions.