Recovery of soil organic carbon through forest succession in St John, Virgin Islands National Park
Brown S and Scheffel M. 1985. Recovery of soil organic carbon through forest succession in St John, Virgin Islands National Park
Study to determine rate of recovery of soil organic carbon on an area which was formerly used for agriculture and has been left to natural forest growth. Study sites were on St. John, within Virgin Islands National Park. Measured soil bulk densities, organic carbon profiles, and total carbon content. The objective of this study was to determine the rate of recovery of soil organic carbon due to forest succession on land that had been intensively used for agriculture. Previous studies in Puerto Rico indicated that about 50 yr or so is required for the soil organic carbon to approach the levels found in undisturbed forests (Brown et al. 1984a). This trend was found for both very humid (>3000 mm/yr of rainfall) and arid (~800 mm/yr of rainfall) climates. Thus, a secondary objective of this study is to determine if the trends found in the arid and very humid climate apply to a moist one (rainfall ~1300 mm/yr).
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Brown, Sandra; Scheffel, Mark
- Date of Issue
- 1985
- Units
- VIIS
- Keywords
- Agriculture, Carbon (C), Physical Sciences, Recovery, Soil Chemistry, Soil Formation, Virgin Islands National Park St. John US Virgin Islands