The German Agricultural Soil Inventory: sampling design for a representative assessment of soil organic carbon stocks

Abstract

Agricultural soils tend to show depletion in soil organic carbon stocks due to cultivation. The quantity of C-pools published in the literature varies greatly by author and climate region [1], [2]. In Germany, there are two soil inventories for forest soils, but none for agricultural ones. The German agricultural soil inventory is going to face these weaknesses. Land use is highly represented by the systematic, probabilistic sampling design. The shares of cropland, pasture and specialized cultivation are mapped with an error of ± 10%. The representation of soil-climateareas is also in good agreement with their spatial distribution.