Soil organic carbon stocks in relation to the altitude in Serbia

The research was conducted to determine the soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in relation to the altitude in Serbia. The database included a total of 1,140 soil profiles. SOC were investigated at different the altitudes (0-200 m, 200-500 m, 500-1,000 m, 1,000 - 2.000 m) and at two soil depths (0-30 cm and 0-100 cm). Statistical correlation was done for five regions where locations were grouped according to the spatial distribution. The results showed that the highest mean values of SOC were measured on the terrain that includes mountains with the altitudes of 1,000-2,000 m and covers an area of 11.5% of the territory of Serbia. The lowest obtained result is related to the lowland areas with the largest number of locations. Greater variability in the results of SOC stocks were found at the higher altitudes and the greatest on the low mountains of 500-1,000 m altitude. There is a medium to strong statistical dependence of the altitude with the SOC stocks at two soil depths (0-30 cm and 0-100 cm). The result indicate that the relationship between SOC stocks and altitude varies between the regions. This study shows that altitude is an important factor affecting SOC stocks.