Computation of total soil organic carbon stock and its standard deviation from layered soils

To assess carbon sequestration in the agricultural and natural systems, it is usually required to report soil organic carbon (SOC) as mass per unit area (Mg ha-1) for a single soil layer (e.g., the 0-0.3 m ploughing layer). However, if the SOC data are reported as relative concentration (g kg-1 or %), it is required to compute the SOC stock and its standard deviation (SD) for a given layer as the product of SOC concentration and bulk density (BD). For a proper computation, it is required to consider that these two variables are correlated. Moreover, if the data are already reported as SOC stock for multiple sub-layers (e.g., 0-0.15 m, 0.15-0.3 m) it is necessary to compute the SOC stock and its SD for a single soil layer (e.g., 0-0.3 m). The correlation between stocks values from adjacent and non-adjacent soil sub-layers must be accounted to compute the SD of the single soil layer.The present work illustrates the methodology to compute SOC stock and its SD for a single soil layer based on SOC concentration and BD also from multiple sub-layers. An Excel workbook automatically computes the means of stocks and SD saving the results in a ready-to-use database.center dot Computation of a carbon (SOC) stock and its standard deviation (SD) from the product between SOC concentration and bulk density (BD), being correlated variables.center dot Computation of a SOC stock and its SD from the sum of SOC stocks of multiple correlated sub-layers.center dot An Excel workbook automatically computes the means of SOC stocks and SD and saves the results in a ready to-use database.(c) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V.This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ )

Automated summary

To assess carbon sequestration in agricultural and natural systems, it is necessary to report and compute soil organic carbon (SOC) stock and its standard deviation (SD). This can be done by considering the correlation between SOC concentration and bulk density (BD) and taking into account the correlation between adjacent and non-adjacent soil sub-layers when calculating the SD of a single soil layer.