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Rate of Loss of Carbon from Georgia Soils¹

ABSTRACT

The organic content of forest soils in Georgia was found to be rapidly lowered by cultivation. A mean decrease from 3.29% organic matter to 1.43% was found upon sampling 29 locations of forest soils and adjoining areas cultivated 25 years or more. A 20% average reduction in carbon occurred for 6 forested Piedmont soils brought under simulated cultivation for 24 months.

Most of the carbon from green oats, crimson clover, and barnyard manure was lost in 24 months when added to cultivated Cecil soil at rates of 20 tons per acre. Sawdust and mature oat and wheat straw were more resistant. But even these materials decomposed fairly rapidly with simulated cultivation.

The 20,000- and 40,000-pound application rates of green oats only slightly increased soil carbon after 12 months, and after 24 months only the 40,000-pound rate was higher (but not statistically) than the control. Rates of 2,000 and 5,000 pounds of green oats resulted in a slight decrease of soil carbon over the control after 24 months (but this was also not statistically significant at the 5% level).

¹ Contribution from the Department of Agronomy, College Exp. Sta., College of Agriculture, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia. Journal Paper 42. Presented before Div. III, Soil Science Society of America, Cincinnati, Ohio, Nov. 13, 1956.

² Associate Professor of Agronomy.

Received for publication April 29, 1957. Accepted for publication May 8, 1957.