Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer
Plant Science Today (PST)

Research Articles

Vol. 13 No. sp1 (2026): Recent Advances in Agriculture

Impact of different land-use systems on soil aggregate–associated organic carbon and nitrogen in Northeast India

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.12985
Submitted
28 November 2025
Published
13-02-2026

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of different land-use systems (LUS) and soil management practices (SMP) on soil aggregate stability and the distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC) and nitrogen (N) among aggregate size fractions. The long-term effects of plantation crops (tea and bamboo), horticultural systems (mango and lemon) and conventional agricultural cropping systems (rice–rice, wheat–millets and okra–onion) were evaluated in northeastern India. Soil organic carbon and total nitrogen (TN) were quantified within different aggregate size fractions to assess the influence of LUS and SMP on carbon and nitrogen stabilization. The results showed that uncultivated land exhibited the lowest mean weight diameter (MWD) of aggregates (0.69 mm), while mango land-use recorded the highest value (0.96 mm). Surface soil under tea plantations exhibited the highest TN concentration (1.31 g kg-1), closely followed by mango plantations; both were significantly higher than the concentrations observed in agricultural systems. Across all LUS, macroaggregates were found to hold greater SOC than microaggregates. Notably, tea plantations had the highest SOC levels within microaggregates (13.2 g kg-1), followed by bamboo, highlighting their superior capacity for stabilizing organic carbon. The distribution of total nitrogen within macroaggregates mirrored the pattern observed for SOC. Elevated clay-associated SOC under tree-based systems (tea, mango and bamboo) suggests enhanced long-term carbon stabilization due to the longer residence time of clay-bound organic matter.

References

  1. 1. Tisdall JM, Oades JM. Organic matter and water-stable aggregates in soils. J Soil Sci. 1982;33(2):141–63. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2389.1982.tb01755.x
  2. 2. Castro Filho CD, Lourenço A, Guimarães MDF, Fonseca ICB. Aggregate stability under different soil management systems in a red latosol in Parana, Brazil. Soil Tillage Res. 2002;65(1):45–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0167-1987(01)00275-6
  3. 3. Collins HP, Elliott ET, Paustian K, Bundy LG, Dick WA, Huggins DR, et al. Soil carbon pools and fluxes in long-term Corn Belt agroecosystems. Soil Biol Biochem. 2000;32(2):157–68. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0038-0717(99)00136-4
  4. 4. Murty D, Kirschbaum MUF, McMurtrie RE, McGilvray H. Does conversion of forest to agricultural land change soil carbon and nitrogen?. Glob Change Biol. 2002;8(2):105–23. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1354-1013.2001.00459.x
  5. 5. Sainju UM, Caesar-TonThat T, Jabro JD. Carbon and nitrogen fractions in dryland soil aggregates affected by long-term tillage and cropping sequence. Soil Sci Soc Am J. 2009;73(5):1488–95. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj2008.0405
  6. 6. Haile SG, Nair PR, Nair VD. Carbon storage of soil-size fractions in Florida silvopastoral systems. J Environ Qual. 2008;37(5):1789–97. https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq2007.0509
  7. 7. Elliott E. Aggregate structure and carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in native and cultivated soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J. 1986;50(3):627–33. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj1986.03615995005000030017x
  8. 8. Lal R. Soil carbon dynamics in cropland and rangeland. Environ Pollut. 2002;116(3):353–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0269-7491(01)00211-1
  9. 9. De Gryze S, Six J, Paustian K, Morris SJ, Paul EA, Merckx R. Soil organic carbon pool changes following land-use conversions. Glob Change Biol. 2004;10(7):1120–32. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1529-8817.2003.00786.x
  10. 10. Ramesh T, Bolan NS, Kirkham MB, Wijesekara H, Kanchikerimath M, Rao CS, et al. Soil organic carbon dynamics: impact of land-use changes and management practices. Adv Agron. 2019;156:1–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.agron.2019.02.001
  11. 11. Silva Araujo JK, Souza Júnior VS, Marques FA, Voroney P, Sousa RA. Carbon storage under rainforests in Humic Hapludox of northeastern Brazil. Sci Total Environ. 2016;568:339–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.06.025
  12. 12. Ghimirey V, Chaurasia J, Acharya N. Soil carbon sequestration: mechanisms, management and challenges. Discov Soil. 2025;2(1):101. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44378-025-00133-5
  13. 13. Sexstone AJ, Revsbech NP, Parkin TB, Tiedje JM. Oxygen profiles and denitrification rates in soil aggregates. Soil Sci Soc Am J. 1985;49(3):645–51. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj1985.03615995004900030024x
  14. 14. Six J, Conant RT, Paul EA, Paustian K. Stabilization mechanisms of soil organic matter. Plant Soil. 2002;241(2):155–76. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016125726789
  15. 15. Six J, Feller C, Denef K, Ogle S, de Moraes Sa JC, Albrecht A. Soil organic matter, biota and aggregation under no-tillage. Agronomie. 2002;22(7–8):755–75. https://doi.org/10.1051/agro:2002043
  16. 16. Skjemstad JO, LeFeuvre RP, Prebble RE. Turnover of soil organic matter under pasture using 13C abundance. Soil Res. 1990;28(2):267–76. https://doi.org/10.1071/SR9900267
  17. 17. Six J, Paustian K. Aggregate-associated soil organic matter as an ecosystem property. Soil Biol Biochem. 2014;68:A4–A9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2013.06.014
  18. 18. Jackson ML. Soil Chemical Analysis. New Delhi: Prentice-Hall of India; 1973.
  19. 19. Elliott E. Aggregate structure and carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J. 1986;50(3):627–33. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj1986.03615995005000030017x
  20. 20. Kemper WD, Rosenau RC. Aggregate stability and size distribution. In: Klute A, editor. Methods of Soil Analysis. Part 1. Madison: ASA; 1986. p. 425–42. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssabookser5.1.2ed.c17
  21. 21. Youker RE, McGuinness JL. A short method of obtaining mean weight-diameter values of aggregate analyses of soils. Soil Science. 1957;83(4):291–4.
  22. 22. Mazurak AP. Effect of gaseous phase on water-stable synthetic aggregates. Soil Sci. 1950;69(2):135–48. https://doi.org/10.1097/00010694-195002000-00005
  23. 23. Nelson DW, Sommers LE. Total carbon, organic carbon and organic matter. In: Page AL, editor. Methods of Soil Analysis. Part 2. Madison: ASA; 1982. p. 539–79. https://doi.org/10.2134/agronmonogr9.2.2ed.c29
  24. 24. Juo ASR, Kang BT. Nutrient effects of modification of shifting cultivation in West Africa. Rome: FAO; 1989.
  25. 25. Meena S, Manjaiah KM, Sharma VK, Purakayastha TJ, Das S, Bana RS, et al. Soil organic carbon fractions across land-uses in Tripura, India. Front Sustain Food Syst. 2025;9:1604101. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2025.1604101
  26. 26. Ramesh T, Manjaiah KM, Tomar JMS, Ngachan SV. Effect of multipurpose tree species on soil fertility in Northeast India. Agrofor Syst. 2013;87(6):1377–88. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-013-9645-6
  27. 27. Davidson EA, Ackerman IL. Soil carbon changes after cultivation. Biogeochemistry. 1993;20(3):161–93. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00000786
  28. 28. Mandal A, Toor AS, Dhaliwal SS, Singh P, Singh VK, Sharma V, et al. Crop intensification effects on soil properties in semiarid regions. Agronomy. 2022;12(5):1010. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12051010
  29. 29. Leul Y, Assen M, Damene S, Legass A. Land-use effects on soil quality in western Ethiopia. Ecol Indic. 2023;147:110024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2023.110024
  30. 30. Trujillo W, Amezquita E, Fisher MJ, Lal R. Soil organic carbon dynamics in Colombian savannas. In: Lal R, Kimble JM, editors. Soil Processes and the Carbon Cycle. Boca Raton: CRC Press; 2018. p. 267–80. https://doi.org/10.1201/9780203739273-18
  31. 31. Adaikwu AO, Obi ME, Ali A. Assessment of soil degradation in Benue State, Nigeria. Lagos: University of Lagos Press; 2012.
  32. 32. Roy P, Bhattacharyya R, Biswas DR, Singh R, Das TK, Sharma DK, et al. Agrogeotextiles and soil carbon sequestration in the Himalayas. Indian J Agric Sci. 2023;93(7):768–73. https://doi.org/10.56093/ijas.v93i7.136929
  33. 33. Guggenberger G, Zech W. Soil organic matter under forest succession in Costa Rica. For Ecol Manage. 1999;124(1):93–104. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-1127(99)00055-9
  34. 34. Mishra VK, Nayak AK, Singh CS, Jha SK, Tripathi R, Shahid M, et al. Aggregate-associated organic carbon under land-use systems. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal. 2014;45(10):1293–304. https://doi.org/10.1080/00103624.2013.875195
  35. 35. Fisher RF. Amelioration of degraded rainforest soils by native trees. Soil Sci Soc Am J. 1995;59(2):544–9. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj1995.03615995005900020039x
  36. 36. Gelaw AM, Singh BR, Lal R. Soil organic carbon and total nitrogen stocks under different land-uses in a semi-arid watershed in Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. Agric Ecosyst Environ. 2014;188:256–263. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2014.02.035
  37. 37. Yadav S, Barman M, Manjaiah KM, Purakayastha TJ, Roy L, Yadav RK, et al. Soil organic carbon pools under land-use systems in NE India. Indian J Agric Sci. 2024;94(10):1125–9. https://doi.org/10.56093/ijas.v94i10.151357
  38. 38. Qadir M, Steffens D, Yan F, Schubert S. Sodium removal from saline–sodic soil by phytoremediation. Land Degrad Dev. 2003;14(3):301–7. https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.558
  39. 39. Percival HJ, Parfitt RL, Scott NA. Factors controlling soil carbon in grasslands. Soil Sci Soc Am J. 2000;64(5):1623–30. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj2000.6451623x
  40. 40. Singh R, Babu S, Avasthe RK, Das A, Praharaj CS, Layek J, et al. Organic farming in North-East India. Indian J Agron. 2021;66(5):163–79.
  41. 41. Blanco-Canqui H, Lal R. Carbon sequestration mechanisms in soil aggregates. Crit Rev Plant Sci. 2004;23(6):481–504. https://doi.org/10.1080/07352680490886842
  42. 42. von Lützow M, Kögel-Knabner I, Ekschmitt K, Matzner E, Guggenberger G, Marschner B, et al. Stabilization of organic matter in temperate soils. Eur J Soil Sci. 2006;57(4):426– https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2389.2006.00809.x
  43. 43. Sreekanth NP, Prabha VS, Babu P, Thomas AP. Soil carbon alterations in forest ecosystems. Int J Environ Sci. 2013;3(5):1516–30.
  44. 44. Jastrow JD, Miller RM, Boutton TW. Carbon dynamics of aggregate-associated organic matter. Soil Sci Soc Am J. 1996;60(3):801–7. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj1996.03615995006000030017x
  45. 45. Shrestha BM, Singh BR, Sitaula BK, Lal R, Bajracharya RM. Soil aggregate-associated organic carbon in Nepal. Soil Sci Soc Am J. 2007;71(4):1194–203. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj2006.0405
  46. 46. Singh N. Perenniality impacts on soil physical and hydraulic properties. Sustainability. 2025;17(24):10988. https://doi.org/10.3390/su172410988

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.