Articles
SPATIO-TEMPORAL VARIATION IN SOIL ORGANIC CARBON UNDER KIWIFRUIT PRODUCTION SYSTEMS OF NEW ZEALAND
Article number
1018_29
Pages
279 – 286
Language
English
Abstract
Spatio-temporal changes in soil organic carbon levels have not been measured under kiwifruit grown in New Zealand.
To evaluate the spatial and time dependent patterns of organic carbon stock in Andisol used for kiwifruit production three management systems: organic; biological; and integrated, were included from three agro-ecological zones: Katikati; Tauranga; and Te Puke in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. 81 cores from each kiwifruit orchard were collected from three replicates including three row positions: grass alleyway, wheel tracks and vine row at 0-5, 5-10 and 10-15 cm depth for three consecutive years.
Soil samples were also collected from nearby pasture and arable land to use as paired samples.
Soil organic carbon (SOC) varied in response to management system, soil depth, row position, zone, year and their interactions.
In kiwifruit orchards, soil under biological management sequestered more carbon than other management practices.
Higher SOC content was recorded in the wheel tracks followed by the grass alleyway and the lowest was in vine row.
Kiwifruit orchards in Katikati region sequestered remarkably more SOC than pastoral land in Katikati, while the reverse was true for the Tauranga and Te Puke regions.
The SOC stock decreased over the first two years but increased remarkably in the third year irrespective of management systems.
The rate of decline over the first two years was higher in kiwifruit orchard than pastoral and arable lands.
SOC increased at a greater in kiwifruit over the three years study period.
This fluctuation in SOC stock may have happened due to either improper use of fertilisers and/or composts, inappropriate soil disturbance with imbalanced activity of microbial community and soil management or the effect of some other intrinsic/extrinsic factors which need to be identified.
To evaluate the spatial and time dependent patterns of organic carbon stock in Andisol used for kiwifruit production three management systems: organic; biological; and integrated, were included from three agro-ecological zones: Katikati; Tauranga; and Te Puke in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. 81 cores from each kiwifruit orchard were collected from three replicates including three row positions: grass alleyway, wheel tracks and vine row at 0-5, 5-10 and 10-15 cm depth for three consecutive years.
Soil samples were also collected from nearby pasture and arable land to use as paired samples.
Soil organic carbon (SOC) varied in response to management system, soil depth, row position, zone, year and their interactions.
In kiwifruit orchards, soil under biological management sequestered more carbon than other management practices.
Higher SOC content was recorded in the wheel tracks followed by the grass alleyway and the lowest was in vine row.
Kiwifruit orchards in Katikati region sequestered remarkably more SOC than pastoral land in Katikati, while the reverse was true for the Tauranga and Te Puke regions.
The SOC stock decreased over the first two years but increased remarkably in the third year irrespective of management systems.
The rate of decline over the first two years was higher in kiwifruit orchard than pastoral and arable lands.
SOC increased at a greater in kiwifruit over the three years study period.
This fluctuation in SOC stock may have happened due to either improper use of fertilisers and/or composts, inappropriate soil disturbance with imbalanced activity of microbial community and soil management or the effect of some other intrinsic/extrinsic factors which need to be identified.
Authors
M.H. Rahman, A.W. Holmes, S.J. Saunders
Keywords
allophanic soils, carbon sequestration, global warming, kiwifruit
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