3.2 Total carbon storage pools and their distribution
Ecosystem C storage is summarized in Table 5. Different components of
the ecosystem differed considerably among themselves in terms of the
amount of C stored, the soil pool being the largest (72.08%–96.53% of
the total ecosystem C pool), followed, in that order, by the tree pool
(0%–25.99%), the herb pool (1.37%–2.70%), and the standing litter
pool (0.18–0.78%). Carbon storage in all the pools was significantly
lower in the control than that in any other treatment (SNK post hoc
tests: P>0.05, MS=4324.15, F=3077.85, df = 3). The
treatments differed significantly among themselves in the amounts of
stored C in all the pools except that the standing litter pool (SNK post
hoc tests: P>0.05, MS=0.0004, F=0.706, df = 2), in which
the values were comparable across the three treatments.
The total ecosystem C pool was 104.29 t/ha in FG, 92.24 t/ha in UG,
102.96 t/ha in MG, and 24.48 t/ha in CK (Fig. 7). Compared to that in
CK, ecosystem C storage increased significantly over time in all the
treatments (SNK post hoc tests: P>0.05, MS=4324.15,
F=3077.85, df=3), the pool in FG being the largest.