SOIL CARBON STORAGE AND ERODIBILITY IN FOREST AND AGRICULTURAL LANDS: A CASE STUDY OF VOLCANIC PLATEAU OF MAS URAI MOUNT, JAMBI PROVINCE, INDONESIA

Abstract

Soil with high vegetation cover, such as forests, is the highest organic matter content and carbon storage, resistant to erosion, and a strategic component in mitigating and adapting to climate change. Encroachment and conversion of forests into agricultural land will reduce soil carbon stores (SCS) and its resistance to erosion due to the removal of SOM by erosion and oxidation. Muara Madras Village in Merangin Regency, Jambi Province is one of the areas whose forest is part of the Kerinci Seblat National Park, and part of it has been converted into agricultural land. The study aims to determine SCS and soil erodibility in forests and agricultural land in Muara Madras Village, conducted using an exploratory-descriptive survey method. Soil carbon stores are relatively no different between land uses with various slopes, 63.63-79.34 tons per hectare in forests, 66.05-78.91 tons per hectare in mixed farming, 72.72-76.63 tons per hectare in” tegalan”. However, forest and mixed farming with a high slope (45-65 percent) have more SCS, 79.34 tons per hectare and 78.91 tons per hectare respectively. Soil erodibility is higher in mixed farming (0.11-0.36) and “tegalan” (0.27-0.29) than in forests (0.13-0.07). Mixed farming with a slope of 8-15 percent has the highest soil erodibility (0.36). It is necessary to control the negative influence of rainfall and topography on SCS and soil resistance to erosion through good and maximum soil surface cover with vegetation and plant residues.

Keywords

• soil carbon stores
• soil erodibility
• forest
• land agriculture