ABSTRACT
The amount of carbon stored in various terrestrial ecosystems is an important factor in the cycling of atmospheric carbon dioxide, one of the greenhouse gases. Assessment of carbon in the aboveground standing biomass has received much attention, but only has awareness grown that the carbon pool in soils, in its quantity, its dynamics and its sustainability, is important as well. The analytical problems are connected with the fact that traditional soil surveys and associated laboratory analyses of soil samples were carried out for planning or improving agricultural activities, in which carbon content per ha played a subordinate role. In extremely sandy or imperfectly drained soils, certain subsoil layers may contain relatively high amounts of carbon. In most soil surveys of the reconnaissance type, the mapping units are characterized in the legend by the pedologic classification of the main soil or soils, without precise information on their percentages or any mention of inclusions.
