Estimation of soil organic carbon stock and its spatial distribution in the Republic of Ireland

Data scarcity often prevents the estimate of regional (or national) scale soil organic carbon (SOC) stock and its spatial distribution. This study attempts to overcome the data limitations by combining two existing Irish soil databases [SoilC and national soil database (NSD)] at the national scale, to create an improved estimate of the national SOC stock. Representative regression models between the near-surface SOC concentration and those of deeper depths, and between SOC concentration and bulk density (BD) were developed based on the SoilC database. These regression models were then applied to the NSD derived SOC concentration map, resulting in an improved SOC stock and spatial distribution map for the top 10 cm, 30 cm and 50 cm depths. Western Ireland, particularly coastal areas, was found to have higher SOC densities than eastern Ireland, corresponding to the spatial distribution of peatland. We estimated the national SOC stock at 383 ± 38 Tg for the near-surface of 0–10 cm depth; 1016 ± 118 Tg for 0–30 cm depth; and 1474 ± 181 Tg for 0–50 cm depth.