Soil carbon stocks and land cover in Northern Ireland from 1939 to 2000

Methods to estimate soil carbon stocks and changes in Northern Ireland in relation to land cover change over the periods 1939–2000, 1939–1990 and 1990–2000 are described. Land cover for 1939 was derived from the Land Utilisation Survey and for 1990 and 2000 from interpretation of satellite imagery. Although in 1939 there was more mixed farming than at present, with a reduction of almost 60% in arable land, there has been little change in soil carbon stock (385.9 Mt in 1939, 385.43 Mt in 2000). In recent years the rate of carbon loss appears to have increased partly through greater suburbanization. However, more local field data on carbon densities of peat, of mineral soils under different cover types and after land-cover change, are required to support further iterations of the study.