Effect of Fire and Rangeland Banqueting on Soil Carbon Sequestration in Atbatan Summer Rangelands, East Azerbaijan Province

Aims In recent years, global warming has increased the importance of carbon sequestration. The present study was conducted to survey the effect of banqueting and fire on soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration in Atbatan rangelands of Bostanabad District. Materials & Methods For this purpose, using systematic-random strategy, composite soil samples were taken from fire happened 2 years ago (in 2 aspects of east and west), banqueting constructed 25 years ago (in 2 aspects of north and south), and control sites. The SOC was measured and results were analyzed, using two-way ANOVA. Findings On the contrary of interaction effect, the main effects of aspect and fire were significant on SOC. The SOC of the control site with 28.9 t/ha was higher than the fire site with 21.76 t/ha. The average SOC in the eastern aspect was higher than the western aspect as such the average amount of SOC in western and eastern aspects were 28.94 t/ha and 21.72 t/ha, respectively. Banqueting had an increasing significant effect on SOC, as such SOC of the treatment site was 34.47 t/ha compared to the control site with 22.21 t/ha. The SOC in the northern and southern aspects was not significantly different, and the SOC of southern and northern aspects equaled 28.45 t/ha and 28.23 t/ha, respectively. Conclusion In conclusion, according to the results of the study, the occurrence of fire in rangelands can reduce the amount of SOC. The rangeland banqueting increases the amount of SOC in both aspects.