Pedosphere Research, vol. 2, 2022, no. 2: 63 – 73

Original paper

NATIONAL CONTRIBUTION OF SLOVAKIA TO THE GLOBAL SOIL ORGANIC CARBON SEQUESTRATION POTENTIAL MAP

Štefan Koco1,2, Rastislav Skalský1, Gabriela Barančíková1, Pavol Bezák1

1National Agricultural and Food Centre – Soil Science and Conservation Research Institute Bratislava, Slovak Republic

2University of Prešov, Faculty of Humanities and Natural Sciences, 17th November 1, 081 16 Prešov, Slovakia

Corresponding author: RNDr. Štefan Koco, PhD., National Agricultural and Food Centre – Soil Science and Conservation Research Institute Bratislava, Regional working place Prešov, Raymannova 1, 080 01 Prešov, Slovakia; University of Prešov, Faculty of Humanities and Natural Sciences, 17th November 1,
081 16 Prešov, Slovakia, e-mail: stefan.koco@nppc.sk, ORCID ID: 0000-0003-4352-0295

Citation:
Koco, J., Skalský, R., Barančíková, G., Bezák, P. (2022). National contribution of Slovakia to the Global soil organic carbon sequestration potential map. Pedosphere Research, vol. 2, 2022, no. 2, pp. 63 –73. NPPC – VÚPOP 2022. ISSN 2729-8728.

https://doi.org/10.64122/j.pedosres.2022.02.05

Abstract

Soil organic carbon (SOC) is important component of soil which affects its properties and also is an important part of global carbon cycle. SOC was recognized as indicator of sustainable development in the frame of the UN Agenda 2030. In 2020 the first global topsoil SOC sequestration map has been established by the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils (ITPS), the Global Soil Partnership (GSP), and the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) from national contributions of its members. Contribution of Slovakia represents the implementation of selected national spatial data in terms of the methodology created by the above-mentioned organizations. National sources of climate, soil (clay content, initial SOC), and partly also land use data were used as inputs for the RothC model to estimate SOC sequestration potential in agricultural soils. According to the obtained results, the topsoil (0,0-0,3 m) annual sequestration potential of SOC in agricultural soils of Slovakia is in range from 0.01 to 0.14 Mt C yr-1, depending on theoretical scenarios of soil carbon inputs. The current version of the SOC sequestration potential map for Slovakia still has got some limitations, mainly coming from the national data used, the methods of their processing, and it needs to be continuously updated.

Keywords: Global Soil Partnership, map of soil organic carbon sequestration, agricultural land, soil organic carbon modelling, RothC model, national soil inventory data, Slovakia