Investigating the physico-chemical and carbon storage in soil of forest stands in Kurdistan province (Case study: Marivan county, west of Iran)

The Zagros forests are known as the second-largest forest ecosystems in the country in terms of surface area, and they provide many ecosystem services such as carbon storage. Soils are the largest reservoir of carbon storage in dry ecosystems. The purpose of this study was to investigate the carbon storage status of coppice oak stands (exclosure and non-protected stands). In this regard, two forest stands, Garan (an exclosure area) and Dolah Naw (a typical forest of Kurdistan province), were selected in Marivan county, Kurdistan province. A square sample plot of one hectare was considered randomly in each stand. In each plot, five soil samples were taken from a depth of 0-30 cm, and physico-chemical characteristics of the soil, microbial respiration, and organic carbon percentage were measured in the laboratory. Considering the normality of the data, the independent t-test was used to compare the averages of the study parameters in the two plots. The results showed that the percentage of organic carbon and carbon storage in the Garan, with values of 3.63% and 104.3 tons per hectare, respectively, was significantly higher than that of the Dolah Naw (with 2.63% and 86.7 tons per hectare). Additionally, the parameter values of gravel percentage, microbial respiration, and C/N ratio in the Garan (37.3%, 472.9 mg CO2/kg, and 13.1, respectively) were higher than those in the Dolah Naw. The general results of the research showed that carbon storage in the Garan stand (under protection management) exceeded that of the Dolah Naw. As a result, exclosure and forest protection increases the percentage of carbon storage and the amount of soil carbon storage.