The Effect of Land Use and Land Cover on Soil Organic Carbon Stock in Relation to Some Soil Properties

Identifying the primary factors influencing spatial distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC) stock is critical for improving the accuracy of soil organic carbon stock estimation. The primary objective of the current study is to determine the effects of land use-land cover, and some soil characteristics on SOC stock in an area of 111 km2 in Vezirköprü district, Samsun province in the Central Black Sea Region of Turkey. To determine land use and land cover of the study area, Triplesat satellite image was used. Four main land use and land cover that are forest, pasture, settlement, and cultivated land were determined. According to the results obtained, it was determined that some soil characteristics and land use-land cover in the study area had a statistically significant effect on the spatial variation of SOC density. The amount of SOC stock in the study area varies between 4.79- and 94.10-tons ha-1 in surface (0-20 cm) soils and between 5.16- and 8.86-tons ha-1 in subsurface (20-40 cm) soils. Among the different land uses, it was determined that the highest amount of SOC stock in the surface soil was 53.356 tons ha-1 in forest areas, while the lowest amount of SOC stock was in agricultural lands with 34.048 tons ha-1