Investigation on the soil carbon sequestration in natural forest and different plantation types (case study: Chamestan forest, Mazandaran)

Forest ecosystems and their optimal management can play effective roles in mitigating the carbon emission as well as absorbing the atmospheric carbon. The present research was carried out to determine the effects of 21 year old stands of Cryptomeria japonica, Cupressus sempervirens, Pinus taeda, Acer pseudo-platanu and mixed plantation and natural forest stands on sequestration of carbon in the soil of Chamestan plantation area. The results showed that the difference of carbon in pure, mixed and natural stands, in different layers are statistically significant. Moreover, there are not any significant correlations between the acidity of the soil, nitrogen, salinity and phosphorus and carbon sequestration. For the total layers of the soil (0-45 cm), the rate of carbon sequestration in natural stands (108 ton/ha) was significantly higher than other stands) P