Comparison of Soil Sampling Devices for Soil Bulk Density Determination for Carbon Sequestration Monitoring

Soil bulk density is often used to adjust soil carbon (C) values for changes in soil density because of management differences in C-sequestration studies. Often hand-sampling devices used for soil fertility monitoring may be used for sampling soil to a depth of up to 30 cm. Four sampling devices of differing characteristics that can be used with hand-sampling equipment across full tillage, reduced tillage, and no-tillage to determine soil bulk density were evaluated. There were no significant differences in soil bulk density values between three cylindrical devices, which measured from 19 to 31 mm in diameter. However, a 21 mm × 76 mm rectangular device gave significantly lower bulk density values than the cylindrical devices. Calculation of soil organic carbon (SOC) mass per unit area showed similar results for the cylindrical devices with the rectangular device giving a significantly lower value than the cylindrical devices. Using a cylindrical device on a hand probe in a consistent manner will give satisfactory results when sampling surface soils.