Soil physico-chemical properties and Organic Carbon stocks across different land use in an urban park of Vilnius, Lithuania

Abstract

Urban areas are characterised by land use change processes. Urban and peri-urban soils degradation increase at the different land uses, and the characteristic of each land use affecting soil carbon stock and, consequently, the role of soil as a CO 2 sink. The aim of this work was to assess the effect of land use and soil management practices in urban and peri-urban soils in Vilnius (Lithuania). Studied properties were: Sand, Clay, Silt, Stoniness, bulk density (BD), pH, electrical conductivity (EC) and soil organic carbon stocks (SOCS). Ten samples were collected at depths 0-10 cm in 8 different land uses and soil management practices in the urban and peri-urban areas of Vilnius. Forests – Quercus robur , Acer plantanoides , Pinus sylvestris and Picea abies , grasslands – semi-natural grasslands (SNG) and managed semi-natural-grasslands (MSNG), both dominated by Taraxacum officinale , artificial grasslands (AG), and urban. SOC (t/ha) resulted significantly higher in Pinus sylvestris and Art. Grass than in Quercus robur , Acer plantanoides , and urban land uses. Urban land use recorded lower values of SOC (t/ha) than the other land uses except for Acer plantanoides . Land uses with high human intervention decline soil quality and affect the role of soil as a climate regulator.