Carbon Stock and Natural Abundance of ¹³C as a Function of Conversion of Forest and Grassland Areas in Southern Brazil

Conversions of plant cover resulting from management practices may alter carbon storage and the natural abundance of ¹³C. The aim of this study was to evaluate C stocks and natural abundance of C (δ¹³C) in areas of forest (F) and pasture (P) sequences with different times of usage in an Atlantic Forest area, Santa Catarina, Brazil. Seven usage sequences of forest (F) and pasture (P) were defined through aerial photographs taken in 1957, 1978, and 2008; through interviews with residents; and through choice of areas with forests in an intermediate stage of regeneration. The sequences were identified as FFP, FPF, FFP, FPP, PFF, PPF, and PPF; in which the letters F or P refer to the usage observed in the years 1957, 1978, and 2008, respectively. Soil was sampled at the depths of 0.00-0.10, 0.10-0.20, 0.20-0.30, 0.30-0.40, 0.40-0.50, 0.50-0.60, 0.60-0.80, and 0.80-1.00 m. Natural abundance of soil ¹³C (δ¹³C), total organic carbon (TOC), bulk density (BD), and carbon stock (CST) were quantified. Conversion of forest to pasture led to an increase in BD and reduction in TOC and CST in the soil. The highest CST value was observed in areas currently occupied by forest, even when previously used as pasture. The TOC in the areas with secondary forest showed a tendency toward new equilibrium, since TOC values were higher than those observed in primary forest areas. The forest and pasture areas showed variation in the isotopic signatures of δ¹³C in the different land use times and soil depths, confirming the shift in cultivation from C₃ to C₄ plants. In pasture areas with 50 years of use, at the 0.00-0.10 m depth, 66 % of soil TOC is still derived from the original forest. Principal component analysis (PCA) indicated that TOC was the property that best discriminated the changes related to land use in the different soil depths.

land use; natural abundance of ¹³C; C fraction dynamics