Land Use and Soil Carbon Sequestration in the Kou Watershed, Burkina Faso

Background: Soil organic carbon is an indicator that must be considered when assessing the sustainability of agroecosystems.

Aim: The aim of the study is to assess the impact of different land use patterns on soil organic carbon stock and the contribution of this component to climate change mitigation.

Methodology: soil samples were taken from depths of 0-15 cm and 15-30 cm along diagonal transects of study plots, with seventy-two composite samples collected in total.

Results: Soils in the riparian zone (23.77%) and irrigated crops (25.73%) were found to be the richest in clay. Only clay content was positively correlated with soil depth (r=0.104). The Kruskal-Wallis test shows that the amount of carbon varies significantly (p-values between 2.510-4 and 7.910-4) across land use/land cover classes (LULC). Wetland (28.91 ± 2.83 t/ha) and woody savannah (28.53 ± 4.24 t/ha) had the highest carbon stock, and shrub savannah had the lowest (12.77 ± 0.82 t/ha). The carbon stock at a depth of 0-15 cm exceeds that found at 15-30 cm. Over the 1,330.80 ha of the Kou River riparian buffer zone, the total atmospheric carbon sequestered in the soil was 119,833.27 metric tons of CO2.

Conclusion: The carbon sequestration capacity of the Kou River’s riparian zone is significant in the context of climate change mitigation.