soil respiration – Journal of Oil Palm Research https://jopr.mpob.gov.my Wed, 11 Feb 2026 08:02:11 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 SOIL CO2 FLUX ACROSS MANAGEMENT ZONES IN AN OIL PALM PLANTATION ON PEAT IN PAHANG, MALAYSIA https://jopr.mpob.gov.my/soil-co2-flux-across-management-zones-in-an-oil-palm-plantation-on-peat-in-pahang-malaysia/ Wed, 11 Feb 2026 08:02:11 +0000 https://jopr.mpob.gov.my/?p=15312 Soil respiration is a significant contributor to the soil carbon (C) balance. However, knowledge of how it varies between management zones in oil palm plantation, and how it influences peat C loss rate, is still lacking. Therefore, a study to investigate the variations of soil CO2 flux (Rs) in different management zones was conducted in a 14-year-old oil palm plantation on peat soils. R5 was monitored over five months on a 1 ha plot located in an oil palm plantation in Pekan, Pahang, Malaysia using the closed chamber method. Spatial variability was considered by differentiating between C fluxes from each of three surface (management) zones (i.e., harvest paths, frond piles and inter-row). The mean Rs from the plantation was evaluated at 1.19 ± 0.09 g m-2 hr-1 across the three different surface zones, whose individual flux values were 0.68 ± 0.07, 1.19 ± 0.16 and 1.71 ± 0.19 m-2 hr-1, respectively. Highlighting CO2 flux disparities among management zones provides insight into how surface management influences peat respiration. Additionally, Rs exhibited strong negative coherence with soil moisture. However, further information of the factors controlling soil CO2 flux is required to assess the broader applicability of these findings.

]]> MINERALIZATION OF SOIL ORGANIC CARBON AND NITROGEN IN RELATION TO RESIDUE MANAGEMENT FOLLOWING REPLANTING OF AN OIL PALM PLANTATION https://jopr.mpob.gov.my/mineralization-of-soil-organic-carbon-and-nitrogen-in-relation-to-residue-management-following-replanting-of-an-oil-palm-plantation/ Sat, 13 Nov 2021 15:39:07 +0000 https://jopr.mpob.gov.my/V2/?p=9342 During oil palm replanting, substantial amounts of the above-ground oil palm residues were available which contributed about 577 kg N ha-1 and 40 t C ha-1 and the root materials produced about 65 kg N ha-1 and 8 t C ha-1. These materials were the main sources of C and N which would affect the mineralization of C and N in the soil. In this study, the potential mineralizable of N, the mineralization of organic C through soil respiration and CO2evolution with different residues management practices were estimated.

The results of C mineralization study showed that the carbon fluxes due to crop residues inputs contributed about 7.7 t CO2 ha-1 yr-1 which was mineralized from the soil. However, the mineralization rate of C from the light fraction organic matter which accumulated on the top soil surface was found to be about 20 times higher than that in the soil under the organic layer. The CO2  fluxes might largely reflect microbial activity from different residue treatments.

Nitrogen mineralization due to the inputs of crop residues could significantly increase the availability  of N to the young palms of which about 421 kg N ha-1 yr-1 were mineralized from the mineral soil and made available to the palms. In contrast, the N mineralization from the plot without crop residue inputs only contributed about 312 kg N ha-1 yr-1  which probably came from decomposed roots of the previous crop. Thus, the fluxes of about 109 kg N ha-1 yr-1  was transferred to the soil as a consequence of leaving crop residue about the ground during replanting of the plantation. A large amount of N was in the labile pool of the light fraction organic matter which accumulated on the top soil surface and which, when mineralized, was six to seven times higher than that in the soil under the organic layer.

]]>