Just read out a paper on C:N ratio of the soils of Sal (Shorea robusta) forest in Terai region of Nepal, in that paper the author has shown the data for organic carbon (C) for all the soil samples is higher than that of the available nitrogen (N), and the content by percentage of both C & N reduces with the depth increment up to 1 meter from the surface layer, contrastingly, the obtained results from the surface soil samples of the forest floors of West Bengal shows that the available nitrogen is higher than that of the organic carbon in each and every samples collected either from the mangroves soils or from the soils of the terrestrial natural forests comprising with the tree lines of Sal, is it normal for the luxuriant occurrences of the Sal forest in two different soil chemical environments?
The scenario of C:N in WB forest soils is difficult to explain as C always shows higher values than N. If this is a truly real situation, it is intriguing in Soil Science and needs to be probed with great care.
It would be rare indeed if N exceeded C and both were readily measurable concentrations. It's worth checking if an error has been made.
It's the samples collected and analysed by me, most of the samples have shown such results, works of the other researshers and their obtained results for the content of NPK should not be intermingled with the results that I have obtained
Dr. Paul Milham, I have found Nitrogen exceeded organic carbon for several times in the forest soils, and those samples were then undergone repeat analysis by the experts of Central Soil Salinity Research Institute and the same results obtained with the more quantity of the concentration of nitrogen than that of the organic carbon in the mangroves soils of the Sunderbans
Hi Gautam, Can you please indicate what C and N concentrations you are finding? Is anything else unusual about the soils? Paul.
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