Carbon and Nitrogen Sourcing in High Elevation Landscapes of Mustang in Central Nepal

Roshan Babu Ojha, Sujata Manandhar, Avishesh Neupane, Dinesh Panday and Achyut Tiwari
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Roshan Babu Ojha: National Soil Science Research Center, Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Khumaltar, Lalitpur 44700, Nepal
Sujata Manandhar: Centre of Research for Environment, Energy and Water, Kathmandu 25563, Nepal
Avishesh Neupane: Department of Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
Dinesh Panday: Department of Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
Achyut Tiwari: Central Department of Botany, Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Kathmandu 44600, Nepal

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 11, 1-13

Abstract: Mustang valley in the central Himalaya of Nepal is a unique landscape formed by massive soil mass during a glacial period, which is attributed to a mix of vegetations and long agricultural history. Soil nutrients and their sourcing is highly important to understand the vegetation assemblage and land productivity in this arid zone. Twenty soil samples (from 0 to 20 cm depth) were collected from three landscape positions in Mustang district: valley, ridge, and midslope. We explored nutrient sourcing using natural abundance carbon (δ 13 C) and nitrogen isotope (δ 15 N) employing isotope ratio mass spectrophotometry. The results showed that the total soil carbon (TC) and total nitrogen (TN) ranged from 0.3 to 10.5% and 0.3 to 0.7%, respectively. Similarly, the CN ratio ranged from 0.75 to 15.6, whereas soil pH ranged from 6.5 to 7.5. Valley soil showed higher values of TN, CN, and soil pH than the ridge and midslope soils. The valleys had more positive δ 15 N signatures than ridge and midslope, which indicates higher inorganic and organic N fertilizer inputs in the valley bottom than in the midslope and ridge. This suggests that a higher nutrient content in the valley bottom likely results from agro-inputs management and the transport of nutrients from the ridge and midslope. Soil pH and CN ratio were a non-limiting factor of nutrient availability in the study regions. These findings are crucial in understanding the nutrient dynamics and management in relation to vegetation and agricultural farming in this unique topography of the Trans-Himalayan zone of Mustang in central Nepal.

Keywords: carbon; isotopic signature; Mustang; natural abundance; nitrogen; nutrient sourcing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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