Investigating the effect of biological revitalization operations on soil organic carbon stock (case study: Tal Siah forestry project)

Subject: Investigating the effect of biological restoration operations on soil organic carbon storage (Case study: Tal Siah Afforestation Project)Objective: To evaluate the role of the Iranian melon plant species in increasing soil carbon sequestration and helping to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide in order to support sustainable development.Research methods: Soil samples were randomly collected from two depths of 0–15 and 15–30 cm from under the canopy of the Iranian melon species and control areas. After laboratory analysis, the samples were statistically analyzed using independent t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) in SPSS software.Findings: The results showed that the amount of organic carbon in the restored area at depths of 0–15 and 15–30 was approximately 0.2, while in the control area this amount was 0.06 and 0.04, respectively. The amount of carbon sequestered in the restored area at depths of 0–15 and 15–30 cm was 4.39 and 9.07 tons/ha, respectively, while this amount was measured in the control area as 1.05 and 3.83 tons/ha, respectively. Also, the apparent specific gravity of the soil in the restored area was estimated to be 1.46 and 1.43 g/cm3, and in the control area as 1.55 and 1.51 g/cm3, respectively.Conclusion: The presence of plant species such as Persian melon effectively increases carbon sequestration in the soil and can be used as an efficient solution to reduce global warming.