Evaluation of Enclosure Effects on Soil Carbon Storage (Case Study: Rangeland of Shahtappeh-Chah Mahmood and Chiro in Semnan Province)

Livestock grazing is one of the most important kinds of land usage that has a high potential to decrease or increase carbon storage in rangeland ecosystem. This research was investigated the effects of enclosure on soil carbon storage in a rangeland with dominant plants of Artemisia aucheri. Hence, two rangelands of enclosure (Shahtappeh-Chah Mahmood) and no enclosure (Chiro) were chosen in Semnan province, Iran. For soil sampling, 20 plots of 1x1 m2 along with two vertical transects with 100 m length were used in each region. Then, two profiles were dug in 0-15 and 15-30 cm depths in soil of baseline and inter-path of plants in each plot. Data were collected for pH, EC, CaCO3, saturation moisture, soil texture, organic carbon (OC%) and s organic matter (OM%), Soil bulk density and Soil carbon storage and the mean was compared by t-test. The results showed that there was a significant difference (P