carbon budget and sequestration potential in a sandy soil treated with compost

land degradation & developmentLand Degrad. Develop. (2011)

Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/ldr.1152

CARBON BUDGET AND SEQUESTRATION POTENTIAL IN A SANDY SOILTREATED WITH COMPOST

S. JAIARREE1, A. CHIDTHAISONG1*, N. TANGTHAM2, C. POLPRASERT3, E. SAROBOL4 AND S. C. TYLER5,6

1The Joint Graduate School of Energy and Environment, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT), 126 Pracha-Uthit Rd., Tungkru,Bangkok 10140, Thailand

2Faculty of Forestry, Kasetsart University, Bangkok 10900, Thailand3Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology, Thammasat University, Pathum Thani 12121, Thailand

4Faculty of Agriculture, Kasetsart University, Bangkok 10900, Thailand5Earth System Science Department, University of California at Irvine, Irvine, CA 92690, USA

6Department of Chemistry, Norco, CA, USA

Received: 20 October 2010; Revised: 30 May 2011; Accepted: 25 August 2011

ABSTRACT

The effects of compost application on soil carbon sequestration potential and carbon budget of a tropical sandy soil was studied. Greenhouse gas emis-sions from soil surface and agricultural inputs (fertiliser and fossil fuel uses) were evaluated. The origin of soil organic carbon was identified by usingstable carbon isotope. The CO2, CH4 and N2O emissions from soil were estimated in hill evergreen forest (NF) plot as reference, and in the corncultivation plots with compost application rate at 30Mgha�1 y�1 (LC), and at 50Mgha�1 y�1 (HC). The total C emissions from soil surface were8�54, 10�14 and 9�86MgCha�1 y�1 for NF, HC and LC soils, respectively. Total N2O emissions from HC and LC plots (2�56 and 3�47kgN2Oha�1 y�1) were significantly higher than from the NF plot (1�47kgN2Oha�1 y�1). Total CO2 emissions from fuel uses of fertiliser, irrigation andmachinery were about 10 per cent of total CO2 emissions. For soil carbon storage, since 1983, it has been increased significantly (12Mgha�1)under the application of 50Mgha�1 y�1 of compost but not with 30Mgha�1 y�1. The net C budget when balancing out carbon inputs and outputsfrom soil for NF, HC and LC soils were +3�24,�2�50 and +2�07MgCha�1 y�1, respectively. Stable isotope of carbon (d13C value) indicates thatmost of the increased soil carbon is derived from the compost inputs and/or corn biomass. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

key words: sandy soil; soil carbon sequestration; compost; greenhouse gas emissions; net carbon budget; carbon isotope; Thailand

INTRODUCTION

Sandy soils occupy about 900million ha worldwide (ISSS,1998; Driessen et al., 2001). They are usually characterisedby low fertility and thus agricultural productivity is oftenpoor. With increasing populations and environmental pres-sures including climate change, however, such marginalland will be likely exploited to meet the increasing fooddemands. In Thailand, most of sandy soil areas are consid-ered as degraded land with low productivity. They occupyabout 2million ha and are found mainly in the Northeast ofThailand (LDD, 2005). Improving their productivities withcontributing less to the environment problems is one of theprime goals of sandy/degraded soil cultivation in Thailandand elsewhere in the world (LDD, 2005; Cowie et al., 2011).Researches in the past have offered variety of cultivation

approaches to increase sandy soil fertility. Compost applica-tion is one of such approaches that have been used for a

*Correspondence to: A. Chidthaisong, The Joint Graduate School of En-ergy and Environment, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thon-buri (KMUTT), 126 Pracha-Uthit Rd., Tungkru, Bangkok 10140, Thailand.E-mail: [email protected]

Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

century (Heckman, 2006). Compost application has beendemonstrated to increase soil organic matter content andcrop yields. Canali et al. (2004) showed that application ofcomposts and poultry manure was resulted in increase soilpotentially available nutrients. Increase in carbon storagesand paddy rice yields were also reported in a long term ex-periment using compost in lowland sandy soil in NortheastThailand (Takai, 1983; Saenjan et al., 1992). One of expla-nations how application of such organic fertiliser has helpedimprove soil productivity and carbon storage is its ability tomaintain a proper soil aggregates and to promote soil micro-bial activity (Canali et al., 2004; Grandy and Robertson,2007; Mueller and Koegel-Knabner, 2009).Agricultural practices including ploughing and fertilisa-

tion have shown to stimulate greenhouse emissions and theloss of soil carbon (Vågen et al., 2005). In many cases, no-till practices have resulted in increase soil carbon sequestra-tion, whereas organic manure amendment have resulted ingreenhouse gas emission, especially N2O in upland andCH4 in lowland conditions (Bhatia et al., 2005; Hayakawaet al., 2009). Emissions from agriculture activity also includethose from fossil fuel use. West and Marland (2002) have

S. JAIARREE ET AL.

shown that fossil fuel uses for farm activities could accountfor a reasonable fraction of greenhouse emission. Thus, toevaluate whether agricultural system acts as a net carbon sinkor source, major components of emission sources and sinkassociated with all cultivation practices should be considered.With respect to this aspect, little is known about carbon budgetand its carbon sequestration potentials in sandy soil appliedwith compost. Al-Sheikh et al. (2005) and Kundu et al.(2007) reported that crop rotation system could minimise car-bon loss and soil erosion in sandy soils, but the overall carbonbalance was not measured. In the current study, we thereforeevaluated sandy soil carbon sequestration potential and budgetby including emissions from major sources including chemi-cal fertiliser and fossil fuel uses. The specific objectives ofthe study are as follows: (1) to estimate soil carbon sequestra-tion potential when applying different rate of compost; (2) toestimate greenhouse gas emissions; and (3) to estimate soilorganic carbon fraction derived from the different sources byusing stable carbon isotope.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Experimental Site

Field study was carried out at Khao Hin Sorn Developmentand Study Centre (KHS, Universal Transverse Mercator(UTM) coordination at 47 PQR 771136m E, 1521053m N,100m a.s.l.) during 2004–2006, in Cha Cherng Sao Province,eastern Thailand. The slope of the area is 2–4 per cent and landuse has been changed from forest to agriculture for about40 years ago. Corn and cassava were cultivated at the initialstage. However, land was abandoned later because of lowproductivity. To improve this degraded soil, the KHSwas established and has continued to operate since 1969(Rojanasoonthon, 2005). Within the KHS, two main plotswere selected for this study. One forest site adjacent to theKHS was also used as reference. The detailed characteristicsof these sites are as follows: (1) Native Forest plot (NF) or ref-erence site was a hill evergreen forest type, the typical foresttype in this area. The area has been preserved as communityforest for more than 100 years without any significant landuse change. The dominant plants were Dipterocarpus alatus,Tabemaemontana cumingiana and Ansistrocladus tectorius;(2) a 0�25 ha corn plantation plot (HC) with compost applica-tion rate of 50Mgha�1 y�1 (8�62MgCha�1 y�1) since 1995.This has been used for super sweet corn seed production.The plot was divided into five subplots for soil and gassampling during the current study period; and (3) a 0�25 hacorn plantation plot (LC) with compost application rate of30Mgha�1 y�1 (5�17MgCha�1 y�1) since 1995. It has beenused for production of fresh pod super sweet corn since thattime (LDD, 1988). The plot was also divided into five subplotsfor soil and gas sampling during the current study period.


For both HC and LC plots, Canavalia spp. was grownonce a year after corn harvest, and the fresh Canavalia bio-mass was incorporated into the plots as green manure. Supersweet corn (Zea mays L. cv., Chat Ngueng variety) wasplanted in HC and LC plots in June and harvested in August.The aboveground biomass was incorporated into the soil im-mediately after harvest. The plots were left for 1month, andthen corn was planted as the second crop during late-Octoberto January of the following year. For HC plot, urea, 15-15-15and 18-24-24 fertiliser were applied at the rate of 1�5, 2�1 and1�0Mg ha�1 y�1 for each cropping period, respectively. ForLC plot, the applications of these fertilisers were 0�9, 0�8and 0�3Mg ha�1 y�1, respectively. Furrow irrigation wascarried out three times per week by pumping water fromthe irrigation canal.

Soil Sampling and Analysis

Five replications of soil samples were collected beforecrop cultivation at 10 cm intervals up to 100 cm depthsand combined to make a composite sample for eachdepth. These soil samples were then dried at room tem-perature, sieved through a 2mm mesh and analysed forsoil carbon by CHONS analyser with thermal conductiv-ity detector (FlashEA 1112 SeriesW, Italy). The analyticalconditions were as follows: carrier gas, helium; carriergas flow rate, 130ml/min; temperature, 900 �C; columntemperature: 50 �C. Soil moisture at a depth of 0–15 cmwas measured using soil moisture metre, (ThetaProbe-ML2xW, Delta-T devices Ltd, Cambridge, UK). Availablephosphorus was determined by Bray II Method. Exchange-able K was extracted with ammonium-acetate method andanalysed by using ammonium acetate (NH4OAc) 1N, atpH7 (Jackson, 1958). Soil pH was measured in water sus-pension with a ratio of air-dried soil to water of 1:1. Tomeasure soil bulk density, a soil core was taken at depthsof 15 and 45 cm at three points in NF, HC and LC plots.The soil core samples were dried at 105 �C for 48 h. Thebulk density was calculated according to Blake (1965).

Plant Sampling and Analysis

Corn biomass was collected at harvest from five replicationsin the 2� 2m area for each plot. The above and under-ground biomass (ears, leaves, stems and roots) were esti-mated to approximate the annual amount of corn biomassincorporated into the soil. For each crop, ears were removedfrom the field as fresh corn yield but leaves, stems and rootswere incorporated in the soil.During the fallow period, the green manure Canavalia

spp. was cultivated and incorporated into the soil. The wholebiomass (including root) was also sampled at the maturestage (60 days after planting) in the same manner as thatfor corn biomass described earlier. The collected plant sam-ples were dried at room temperature for 2 days and then in

LAND DEGRADATION & DEVELOPMENT (2011)

CARBON BUDGET IN A SANDY SOIL TREATED WITH COMPOST

an oven at 65–70 �C for 48 h. Then, the plant samples wereground and sieved through a 2mm mesh for organic carbonanalysis by using a CHONS analyser as mentioned earlier.Samples of compost were also collected for carbon contentanalysis in the same manner as biomass.

Gas Sampling and Analysis

Gas samples (CO2, CH4 and N2O) were collected by closedstatic chamber method (30� 30 cm. PVC cylinder) and10mL syringes. After gas sampling, gas aliquot was trans-ferred to vaccuumtainer tube [ZenimedW (Thailand), Bangkok],kept in a container and analysed within 2weeks. For eachgas, samples were collected monthly from five chambersrandomly placed within each plot. Concentrations of CO2

and CH4 were determined by a Shimadzu Gas Chromatograph(14B Shimadzu GCW, Kyoto, Japan) equipped with methani-zer and Flame ionized detector (FID). The operating condi-tions were as follows: FID temperature, 300 �C; injectiontemperature, 120 �C; column temperature, 100 �C; carrier gas,helium (99�99 per cent purity); carrier gas flow rate, 65ml m�1;column, Unibead C packed column. N2O was measured by aGas chromatograph (GC) with electron capture detector. TheGC setting was electron capture detector temperature,300 �C; injection temperature, 150 �C; column temperature,65 �C. Fluxes were calculated from the change of the CO2,CH4, N2O concentrations inside the chamber over time. Onlythose showed the significant correlation at p≤0�1 betweenconcentration and time were included in flux calculation.

Carbon Budget Analysis

Full carbon accounting analysis (net carbon flux method)was used to estimate the loss or sequestration of carbon fromall factors involved and significantly impacted the carbonflow under crop practices such as crop input (fertiliser, irri-gation, etc.) and soil carbon storages (West and Marland,2002). The agricultural input data (i.e. fertilisers and irriga-tion) were derived from the Experiment Station’s recordsand converted to CO2 emission rates using the default valuesgiven by Patyk (1996).

Calculation of Carbon Fraction Derived From Forest andCrop

This calculation is based on the assumption that the previousland use before corn cultivation was forest. The original for-est vegetation composed mainly of C3 trees and then wasreplaced by C4 plants (corn). Therefore, the organic carbon(OC) of the crop soils was a mixture of OC remaining fromthe previous forest plant and OC derived from the currentcrops. In this study, the forest trees and legumes were clas-sified as the C3 plants and C3-derived carbon sources. Corn,cultivated as the main crop, was considered as the mainsources of C4 plant-derived carbon. In addition, the organicamendments such as green manure (Canavalia spp.—C3


plant) and compost use (C4-produced from sugarcane resi-dues) were also considered. During the early period of landuse, some C3 plants were cultivated after deforestation suchas sapodilla plum, strawberry, pea and cauliflower. Thesewere assumed to have not significantly affected the carbondynamics of these plots, because they were grown only forshort period. Therefore, we assume that the plant residueswhich would significantly affect the amount of soil carbonwere corn (maize), organic fertiliser inputs (compost) andgreen manure (Canavalia spp.).The stable carbon isotopic method was applied to deter-

mine the amount of C3-derived and C4-derived carbon.Plants with the normal C3 pathway (including most foresttrees, legumes and temperate crops) discriminate againstthe heavier 13C atoms and have d13C values in the range�35 to �20%. Plants (most tropical grasses including cornand sugarcane) with the C4 pathway of photosynthesisdiscriminate less and have d13C values in the range �17 to�9% (van Noordwijk et al., 1997). The different compo-nents of carbon in soil samples derived from forest (C3) orcrop (corn, C4), thus, could be determined on the basis ofthe following equations:

Cs ¼ Cdf þ Cdc (1)

Csd13Cs ¼ Cdfd

13Cdf� �þ Cdcd

13Cdc� �

(2)

Cs is the total soil C content under corn plantation. Thefractions of C derived from forest (Cdf) and corn (Cdc) weredetermined by Equation (1). The d13Cs values were measureddirectly in the cultivated soil samples. On-the-other-hand,plant samples (forest or corn) were used as the samples for de-termining the d13Cdf and d

13Cdc values, respectively. The iso-tope ratio of soil organic C was determined at the Universityof California at Irvine as described by Chidthaisong et al.(2002) and Tyler et al. (1994). Results were expressed ind13C and units as per mil (%), referenced with the Pee DeeBelemnite (PBD) standard (Tyler et al., 1994).

Statistical Analysis

When applicable, statistical analysis using one way analysisof variance and least significant difference at the confidentlevel of 95 per cent was applied.

RESULTS AND DISSCUSSION

Soil Characteristics

Basic soil analysis indicates that soil texture for NF and HCplots was sandy (Table I). Soils of both plots were classifiedas Silicious, Typic Ustipsament, Order Entisols. For LC plot,soil texture was sandy loam and was classified as Kaolinitic,Typic Kandiustalf,Order Alfisols. Because of the higher claymineral contents with sandy loam soil texture, this soil wasclassified in Kaolinitic texture class. The bulk density for A


Table I. Characteristics and classification of soil at the study sites (for bulk density, the values are� SD of five replicates)

Plots Classification Horizon Depth (cm) Texture pH (1:1H2O) Bulk density (g cm-3)

NF Silicious, Typic Ustipsaments A1 0-16 LS 4�6 1�40� 0�04AB 16-32 LS 5�0C1 32-70 LS 4�5 1�59� 0�05C2 70-100 LS 4�9

HC Silicious, Typic Ustipsaments Ap 0-19 LS 6�6 1�73� 0�06AB 19-30 S 7�0C1 30-52 S 7�1 1�77� 0�06C2 52-100 S 6�8

LC Kaolinitic, Typic Kandiustalfs Ap 0-17 SL 6�9 1�85� 0�03AB 17-32 SL 7�0Bt1 32-70 SL 6�4 1�94� 0�06Bt2 70-100 SCL 6�9

S. JAIARREE ET AL.

and C horizon of NFwas 1�4 and 1�59g cm�3, respectively. Forthe HC plot, this was 1�73 and 1�77g cm�3, respectively; andfor the LC plot was 1�85 and 1�94 g cm�3, respectively. Thebulk density of both agricultural soils (HC and LC plots) washigher than that of forest soil. This may be caused by agricul-tural practices such as use of heavy machinery for ploughingand tilling. Similar reasonsmay explain the higher value of bulkdensity in the deeper soil than in the surface soil.

Soil Carbon Concentration and Storage

According to KHS records in 1983, soil carbon content wasquite low (LDD, 1983). To improve soil fertility, KHS hasapplied compost in associated with corn cultivation. Twomain plots were established with different rate of compostapplication. The high application rate plot (50Mg ha�1)was used for seed variety development and production,whereas the low application rate plot (LC) was aimed forfresh corn crop production only. Both, however, used thesame corn variety.Table II shows the content of soil organic carbon and some

other soil characteristics. For the top layer of 0–40 cm, soilorganic carbon levels in all plots were quite similar in1983, falling within the ranges of 0�20–0.63 gC g soil�1.These were also similar to the soil organic carbon contentof NF plot that was measured in 2005, supporting our as-sumption that this forest could be used as the reference site.In addition, the levels of available P and extractable K alsofall within the similar ranges in both 2005 and 1983.Organic carbon content, available P and extractable K have

increased significantly in 2005 when compared with 1983.This was especially obvious in the top 0–40 cm in all plots.Thus, application of compost has been resulted in significantchange soil characteristics and nutrient status. Because thebulk density data of soil were not available in 1983, for com-parison purpose, we estimated the amount of soil carbon stor-age by using the bulk density measured in NF plot in 2005 for0–40 cm layer. The results show that soil carbon stock in 1983


was 16�8 and 23�6MgCha�1, for LC and HC plots, respec-tively. In 2005, these have been changed to 16�20 and 34�50MgCha�1, respectively. Thus, continuous application ofcompost at 50Mgha�1 has resulted in increasing soil carbonstock of about 12MgCha�1 in HC, whereas resulted in nosignificant change in LC plot. For comparison, soil carbonstock in NF in 2005 was 16�30MgCha�1.Distribution of soil carbon storage within soil profile also

seems to be affected by compost application. For example,in 2005, the amount of soil carbon stock in the top 0–40 cmof HC plot was significantly higher than in both LC and NFplots (p≤ 0�05). Through the depth of 1m, about 69 per cent,83 per cent and 61 per cent of soil organic carbon (SOC) wasfound in the top 0–40 cm layer for NF, HC and LC soil, re-spectively. There was no significant difference in soil carbonstorage among NF, HC and LC in the deeper layers(p≤ 0�05). Thus, cultivation practices since 1983 have notmuch altered soil carbon status in the subsoil layers.

Emissions of CO2 from Soil Surface

The monthly emissions of CO2, CH4 and N2O are shown inFigure 1. The average emission of CO2 was 339�80, 411�75and 393�02mgCO2m

�2 h�1 for NF, HC, and LC plots,respectively (Figure 1(A)). The total emissions for 1 year were2963�4, 3631�9, and 3,429�8 gCO2m

�2 y�1, respectively.Because of high seasonal and spatial variations, the totalamount of CO2 emissions were not significantly different(p≤ 0�05) among plots. Such spatial variations are commonfor greenhouse gas emissions from soils as observed in moststudies (Omonode et al., 2007). However, relatively higheremissions were observed in both HC and LC plots, comparedwith the NF plot. This may be partly due to application ofcompost. In addition, emissions of gases were not related tocultivation activities perform in the fields such as fertilisation,irrigation timing and ploughing. Again, this could be maskedby long-interval of gas measurement (once a month), highspatial variations and heterogeneity of soil. Similar level of


Table II. Some chemical properties and carbon content of the soil in 1983a and 2005

PlotsDepth(cm)

1983 2005

Organic C (g C gsoil�1)Available P(mg kg�1)

Extractable K(mg kg�1) Organic Cc (g C gsoil�1)

Available P(mg kg�1)

Extractable K(mg kg�1)

NFb 0–10 — — — 0�55(0�06) 12 1710–20 — — — 0�21(0�03) 11 920–30 — — — 0�13(0�03) 9 730–40 — — — 0�11(0�00) 6 1240–50 — — — 0�11(0�01) 6 950–60 — — — 0�11(0�04) 11 860–70 — — — 0�15(0�04) 5 670–80 — — — 0�12(0�03) 6 580–90 — — — 0�07(0�03) 8 890–100 — — — 0�07(0�04) 9 6

HC 0–10 0�61 3�9 10�9 0�96(0�09) 2197 3010–20 0�72(0�20) 1873 3320–30 0�19 2�6 7�0 0�15(0�04) 606 1630–40 0�17(0�070 430 1540–50 0�07 2�0 3�7 0�06(0�07) 107 950–60 — — — 0�07(0�03) 101 960–70 — — — 0�07(0�05) 86 1070–80 — — — 0�08(0�06) 84 880–90 — — — 0�08(0�06) 89 1090–100 — — — 0�06(0�04) 104 9

LC 0–10 0�41 2�3 28�9 0�40(0�01) 724 6210–20 — — — 0�29(0�01) 586 6220–30 — — — 0�16(0�02) 199 8130–40 — — — 0�13(0�07) 129 9140–50 0�32 1�4 12�7 0�12(0�04) 40 6050–60 — — — 0�09(0�04) 24 7160–70 — — — 0�16(0�15) 30 6770–80 0�30 2�0 13�7 0�08(0�01) 16 6980–90 — — — 0�07(0�05) 11 5790–100 — — — 0�06(0�03) 9 48

aThe results of soil analysis of Land Development Department, Thailand in 1983 (LDD, 1983).bNo information in NF plot for 1983.cStandard deviations of five replications are shown in parenthesis.


CO2 emission among plots may partly explain why the OCstorage of LC and NF plots were significantly lower thanHC plots, that is the loss of C as CO2 was similar, whereasthe gain of C through compost input was significantly higherfor HC plot than in LC plot.For CH4, despite cultivating in upland conditions, CH4

emissions were observed in all plots [Figure 1(B)]. Only1month in August that marginal consumption of atmosphericCH4 was observed in NF plot. The average emissions fromeach plot were 7�27, 5�12, and 7�75mgCH4m

�2 h�1, respec-tively. The total CH4 emissions were 59�8, 41�4, 63.8 gCH4

m�2 y�1, which is not statistically different among plots. Inthis study, CH4 fluxes were high compared with the otherexperiments (Omonode et al., 2007) but much lower thanfrom lowland rice cultivation (e.g. Bossio et al., 1999).Total N2O emissions from these plots were 0�15, 0�25,

0�36 gN2Om�2 y�1. There was no significant difference in


total emission between HC and LC (p≤ 0�05, Figure 1(C)). However, total N2O emissions from NF were signifi-cantly lower than from LC and HC plots. This may havebeen attributed to compost and nitrogen fertiliser applica-tion. The average N2O emissions were 16�83, 29�2 and36�50 mgN2Om�2 h�1 in NF, HC, and LC, respectively.

Carbon Emissions from Machinery and Agricultural Inputs

Carbon emissions attributed to fossil fuel uses were estimatedusing existing coefficients (West and Marland, 2002). Fossilfuel (diesel) was used in machinery (farm tractor) and waterpumps for irrigation (no use of fossil fuel for activities in for-est). The emission factor for diesel fuel use for such purposesin agricultural farms was 0�7955 kgC l�1. For machinery, theamount of diesel fuel used for 1 year of cultivation was 173and 160 l ha�1 for HC and LC plots, respectively. Theestimated CO2 emissions from these fuel uses were 0�14 and


Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec



0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

CO

2flu

x (m

g C

O2

m-2

h-1

)

NF plot HC plot LC plot

0

4

8

12

16

20

24

28 NF plot HC plot LC plot

CH

4flu

x (m

g C

H4

m-2

h-1

)

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140 NF plot HC plot LC plot

N2O

flu

x (µ

g N

2O m

-2 h

-1)

Month in 2005

Figure 1. Greenhouse gas fluxes from NF, HC and LC soil plots in 2005;(A) CO2, (B) CH4 and (C) N2O. Error bars indicates standard deviations

of five chambers.

S. JAIARREE ET AL.

0�13MgCha�1 y�1, respectively. On the other hand, irrigationof crops consumed 855 and 800 l ha�1 of diesel in HC and LCplots, which corresponds to 0�68 and 0�64MgCha�1 y�1 inHC and LC plots, respectively.For estimates of CO2 emissions from fertiliser applica-

tion, the values of CO2 emission for 1 kg of N, P2O5 andK2O—fertiliser application were 2404, 448 and 443 gCO2-ekg�1, respectively (Patyk, 1996). In literatures, the value of


CO2 emission factor for fertilisers greatly varies. West andMarland (2002) reported the values of 857�5, 165�1 and120�3 gCO2-e kg

�1for N, P2O5 and K2O fertiliser, respec-tively. The value of emission factors applied by Kongshaug(1998) in Europe also varied widely depending on produc-tion technology (Wood and Cowie, 2004). For emissionsfrom the fertilisers 15-15-15, the values were 400, 400,and 400 gCO2-e kg

�1 of N, P and K fertiliser uses, respec-tively. Furthermore, the emission values for urea (46-0-0)production in Europe ranged from 913�0 gCO2-e, 1326�1 gCO2-e (Kongshaug, 1998) and 4018�9 gCO2-e kg

�1of N(Davis and Haglund, 1999). In this study, the values givenby Patyk (1996) were applied because of the similar fertiliseruses (urea and 15-15-15).The annual fertiliser inputs of the HC plot as urea (46-0-0),

15-15-15 and 18-24-24 were 1�5, 2�1 and 1�0Mg ha�1, re-spectively. Accordingly, the corresponding emissions were0�45, 0�28 and 0�18MgCha�1, respectively. The total Cemission from fertiliser use for the HC plot was thus 0�91MgCha�1. Similarly, the amounts of these fertilisers applied forLC plot were 0�9, 0�8 and 0�3Mg ha�1. The emissions esti-mated totalled 0�26, 0�10 and 0�06MgCha�1, respectively.The total emission from fertiliser use for the LC plot was0�42MgCha�1.In summary, the CO2 emissions from agricultural inputs

combined with irrigation and fertiliser practices were 1�59and 1�06MgCha�1 from HC and LC plots, respectively.Besides the annual application of compost, the biomass of

corn and cover crops was also incorporated into the soil afterharvest. This portion of carbon was considered as carbon inputinto soils and was included in soil carbon budget. The biomassof corn and Canavalia spp. was estimated as shown inTable III.

Net Soil Carbon Budget

The flows of carbon in the terms of C-CO2, C-CH4 emis-sions and C inputs such as biomass and compost were com-piled from the results reported earlier to estimate carbonbudget. Majority of emissions to the atmosphere were fromsurface release as fluxes (85–90 per cent in LC and NF plots,Table IV). Emission from agricultural inputs accounted forabout 10–13 per cent and from fossil fuel uses in machineryis negligible. For 1-year period, the total emissions from allsources fall within the similar ranges of 8–12MgCha�1 y�1.No significant difference among plots was observed. On theother hand, inputs of carbon through compost applicationand green manure incorporation were estimated at 14�37and 8�98MgCha�1 y�1 for HC and LC plots. For NF plot,we considered only carbon inputs in forms of litter fall,which was obtained from past studies. The value was about5MgCha�1 y�1 for typical hill evergreen forest in this area(Bunyavejchewin, 1997; Sahunalu, 2004). Balancing thecarbon budget between emission and inputs indicates that


Table III. Dry weight and organic carbon production for shoots, leaves and roots of super sweet corn at Khao Hin Sorn site

Plant type Plots Shoot (gm�2) Leaf (gm�2) Root (gm�2) Total (gm�2)

Dry weight OC Dry weight OC Dry weight OC Dry weight OCCorn HC 221�7

(42�6)101�2(19�4)

211�3(31�8) 96�5(8�0) 90�0(16�4) 41�1(7�5) 523�1(83�3) 238�7(38�0)

LC 148�1(49�0)

145�5(37�8)

67�6(22�4) 66�4(17�3) 57�83(18�35) 26�39(8�38)

351�4(99�9) 160�4(45�6)

Canavalia spp. HC —* — — — — — 231(37�0) 100�4(16�0)LC — — — — — — 151(30�0) 61�3(12�0)

Values are means of five measurements (standard deviations shown in parenthesis).OC,organic carbon.*Not determined.


during 1-year period, only soil in HC plot shows the net carbonsequestration of 2�5MgCha�1 y�1, whereas NF and LC actedas the net carbon sources of 3�24 and 3�07MgCha�1 y�1,respectively. Similar results were reported by Mandal et al.(2007), who found that the application of NPK fertiliser +farmyard manure (15Mgha�1 in wheat cultivation) resultedin total organic C accumulation.It is noted that when considers only soil itself, C emissions

exceeded C inputs in both NF and LC plots. This would be

Table IV. Net carbon budget for cultivation of corn with differentcompost application rate, compared with the reference forest site in2005

Plots (MgCha�1 y�1)NF

(MgCha�1 y�1)HC

(MgCha�1 y�1) LC

A. Soil carbon stocks0–40 cm

16�30 34�50 16�20

B. Carbon emissionfrom soilCO2 emissions fromsoil surface

+8�54a +10�14 +9�86

Emissions fromagricultural Inputs

0 +1�59 +1�06

Emissions frommachinery

0 +0�14 +0�13

Total emissions +8�54 +11�87 +11�05C. Carbon inputsCorn biomass 0 �4�76 �3�20Canavalia spp.biomass

0 �0�99 �0�61

Compost application 0 �8�62 �5�17Forest litter biomassb �5�30 0 0Total inputs �5�30 �14�37 �8�98Net soil C budgetc +3�24 �2�50 +2�07Negative and positive values indicate removal (sequestrations) and addition(emissions) to the atmospheric C pool, respectively.aThe total C emissions consisting of CO2 and CH4 emissions (N2O is notincluded).bThe amount of organic C estimated in total annual litterfall from tree, shruband ground plants of dry evergreen forest from Sahunalu (1995).cAnnual C budgets (MgC ha�1 y�1), excluding soil carbon stocks.


explained by inclusion of root respiration. Makiranta et al.(2008) studied the component of total soil respiration in affor-ested land, such as pine and birch. They reported that 41 percent of soil respiration in forest was attributed to root respira-tion. Root respiration that utilises photosynthate of plant maysupply the available carbon that is subsequently respired andreleased as soil surface emission. Similar results in Thailandwere reported by Hanpattanakit (2008). They found that intropical forest of western Thailand, the percentages of root res-piration and microbe respiration (soil decomposition) were 38and 62 per cent, respectively.

The d13C Values of Soil and Plant

Soil and plant samples were collected from the field to deter-mine the value of d13C values and to estimate carbon inputfrom crops and the remaining forest carbon fraction (Table V).The d13C values of corn, Canavalia spp. (green manure),Dipterocarpus, Acistrocladus,Milettia (main trees in NF plot)were �12, �29�2, �29�4, �33�8 and �31�4%, respectively.These data support our basic requirement that C4 plant (corn)and C3 plant (the rest) have the different d13C values. Thelitter of Dipterocarpus alatus in Kanchanaburi forest, in westThailand was reported to have the similar d13C values of�28�6%� 0�4% (Yoneyama et al., 2006).For soils, the d13C values of the top 0–10 cm layer of NF

plot was �27�1%, reflecting its origin of C3-carbon sources.The d13C values of HC and LC plots also indicate the fractionof C4 sources (�16�6 and �15�5% C for LC and HC plots,respectively). From these d13C values of soil, it confirms thatthe OC in NF soil (�27�1%) was mainly derived from C3species (Martin et al., 1990; van Noordwijk et al., 1997;Bernoux et al., 1998). In order to estimate the origin of carbonsources in soil, it is assumed that the d13C values of soil repre-sents soil organic carbon fraction and the inorganic carbonfraction is negligible. The latter assumption is supported bythe fact that soil pH values in NF plot were 4�5–5�0, whereasfor HC and LC plots, these were 6�4–7�0 in the 1-m soil depth.For compost, the material for compost productionwas bagasse


Table V. The d13 C values of plant and soil samples collected fromthe study plots (�SD of three samples, when applicable)

Sample d13 C vales (%)

Corn biomass �12�0� 0�2Canavalia spp. biomass �29�2Dipterocarpus litter �29�4Milettia litter �31�4Acistrocladus litter �33�8Compost �17�4� 0�2NF soil0–10 cm �27�140–50 cm �26�580–90 cm �25�7LC soil0–10 cm �16�640–50 cm �25�080–90 cm �25�4HC soil0–10 cm �15�540–50 cm �24�280–90 cm �25�2

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

NF LC HC

Soil

carb

on (

t ha

-1)

C3 C4 total C

Figure 2. C3 and C4 plant-derived soil organic carbon fraction in sandy soilof Khao Hin Sorn sites, 2005.

S. JAIARREE ET AL.

(waste of sugar mill factory—C4 plant), and the d13C value ofcompost used in the experimental field was�17�4%� 0�2%.For calculation of soil C component derived from C4 plant,we used the d13C value of �15�46 % of cultivated soil. Thisvalue was estimated from the average d13C value of corn(�12%) and of compost (�17�4%), weighed with the amountof compost and corn biomass that were incorporated into thesoil. From these data, the fraction of soil carbon was consid-ered to be derived from twomain sources: (1) C3 plant (forest)and (2) C4 plant (corn and compost).It is noted that the d13C values varied with soil depth. For

example, in NF plot, the d13C value of 0–10 cm top layer inNF soil was �27�1%, increasing to �25�7% at depth of80–90 cm. The difference in d13C value between the top andsubsoil layer is especially obvious for HC and LC soil, wherethe difference could be as high as 10%. Smaller difference ind13C value between the top and subsoil layer of forest mayindicate less disturbance. This indicates that cultivation activ-ities have significantly affected soil mixing and incorporationof carbon into soil profile. Yoneyama et al. (2006) also foundthat in a Thai sugarcane field the continuous incorporation ofsugarcane C into the soil resulted in less negative d13C valuesthan in original forests.

Estimating Source Contribution of Soil Organic Carbon

The use of compost, green manure and the return of cropresidues to the soil are often used in attempts to increase soilorganic matter, which can have large benefits on both thechemical and physical fertility of the soil (IAEA, 2001). Itcan often be difficult to study the effect of these soil prac-tices on the soil organic carbon (SOC) pools because ofthe large amount of background C present in the soils.


Fortunately, the use of C isotopes can facilitate the studyaiming at tracking the SOC pool change overtime.Because soil cultivation activities significantly affect soil

carbon mainly in the top soil, we chose only the top 0–10 cm for the current calculation. Under HC soil cultivationpractices, C4 plant-derived organic carbon accounted for99�64 per cent of total soil organic carbon found (Figure 2).This was supported by the fact that the d13C values of LCand HC soils were�16�6% and�15�5%, respectively. Thesed13Cs values were closer to the d13C value of compost(�17�4%) than corn (�12�0%). From this, it indicates thatthe majority of C4 component in soil was likely to be derivedfrom compost.Soil in the LC plot contains lower amount of organic car-

bon, despite the application of compost at 30Mg ha�1. Thisindicates that the corn management with this rate and cornbiomass incorporation practices was not enough for enhanc-ing soil C storage. This was supported by the result of soilanalysis from the experimental plot (Table II), which indi-cates that there was no difference in the OC contents in soilbetween the initial use of compost (in 1983) and this presentstudy (in 2005).

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Compost application to agricultural soil has been widelypractised as one of the approaches to improve soil fertilityand crop productivity. However, relatively little is knownabout its effects on greenhouse gas emissions and soil car-bon sequestration potential, especially in degraded sandysoil. This study evaluates the carbon budget and roles ofcompost application in increasing carbon sequestration andgreenhouse gas emission of degraded sandy soil in Thailand.Three main plots were studied. These include native forest(NF) as reference, and corn cultivation with compost applica-tion since 1995 at the rate of 50 (HC plot) and 30Mg ha�1

(LC plot). Application of compost at both rates has increased



available K and extractable P when compared with the refer-ence. However, only HC plot shows significant increase insoil carbon storage (12Mg ha�1 during 1983–2005). Usingcarbon isotope to identify the source of this organic carbonreveals that almost most of it is derived from C4 sources.Because compost manure is made from sugarcane waste(C4) and residues of corn were incorporated into the plotafter each harvest, these were the only main C4-carbonsources. It is thus concluded that most of forest-derivedcarbon was decomposed and replaced by organic carbon fromcompost and/or corn-derived carbon. These results indicatethat in this sandy soil, turnover of soil organic carbon is quiterapid and incorporating the new sources of carbon into soilreadily occurs. Applying compost at the lower rate (30Mgha�1 y�1 in LC plot), does not result in significant carbon se-questration. However, this has helped maintain the level ofsoil organic carbon at the similar level as that found for NFplot. In addition, the results indicate that field managementssuch as irrigation and fertiliser application have also emittedgreenhouse gases into the atmosphere. But this accounts foronly small fraction (<10 per cent) of total emission from thefield. In order to mitigate effectively greenhouse gas emission,the main focus should be given to soil carbon in such a waythat surface emission is reduced and SOC is increased.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors would like to express their sincere appreciation toKhao Hin Sorn Experiment Centre, Panom Sarakam District,Chachoengsao Province, eastern Thailand for field site usepermission and supports. This project is supported by theNational Research University Project of Thailand’s Office ofthe Higher Education Commission (CHE).

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carbon budget and sequestration potential in a sandy soil treated with compost

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