Abstract:
Quantification of carbon and nitrogen in soils in relation to ecological, landform and management factors
over river basins is essential to understand landscape ecosystem functions and efforts to manage land
restoration and the reduction of greenhouse gases emissions. Therefore, this research aimed at providing distribution of the potential storage in soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) within the
multifunctional landscapes of the Mo river basin in Togo. We (1) quantified the potential storages of SOC
and TN under different land use/cover types, landscape positions, and land management regimes; and
(2) highlighted the relationships among these soil chemical properties, in-situ ecological conditions, and
other hypothesized controlling factors. We used soil data from 75 sample sites to determine the quantity of SOC and TN at two depths (0–10 cm and 10–30 cm). In-situ ecological variables were collected
simultaneously during soil sampling. Spatial information on biophysical conditions of the study sites
were obtained from satellite images and most updated global topographic and soil databases. The results
showed that SOC and TN varied significantly according to land cover types, soil depths, topographical
positions and land protection regime. Generally, forests and woodland contain highest SOC (4%) and TN
(0.3%). Agricultural fields (fallowed and cultivating farms) exhibited the lowest values of SOC and TN,
except in some selected farm sites where these chemicals are still high. Topsoil layer (0–10 cm) contribute up to 60% of the total nutrient contents in soils. The sequential multivariate statistical approach
unpacked and quantified the effects of inter-dependent ecological, management and landform drivers
on the two important soil chemical properties (SOC and TN). The findings from this study could contribute to the improvement of national programme for assessing of greenhouse gases induced by land
conversions. Based on this case-based finding in contextualization with related studies, we discussed on
its implications for sustainable landscape restoration and climate change mitigation.