Carbon variability in the soil of a rice field in Costa Rica

Authors

  • Roberto Aguirre-Elizondo Centro de Investigación en Contaminación Ambiental, Universidad de Costa Rica
  • Mayela María Monge Muñoz Centro de Investigación en Contaminación Ambiental, Universidad de Costa Rica https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1176-1086
  • Ana Gabriela Pérez-Castillo Centro de Investigación en Contaminación Ambiental, Universidad de Costa Rica https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5075-5573
  • Melvin Alpízar-Marín Centro de Investigación en Contaminación Ambiental, Universidad de Costa Rica
  • Helber Guillen-Arroyo Centro de Investigación en Contaminación Ambiental, Universidad de Costa Rica
  • Cristina Chinchilla-Soto Centro de Investigación en Contaminación Ambiental, Universidad de Costa Rica https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6507-0419

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29312/remexca.v16i5.3664

Keywords:

climate change mitigation, geostatistical interpolation, kriging method, soil mapping

Abstract

Knowledge of the soil carbon stock (SCS) is vital for appropriate farming practices management, ie. tillage and to monitor SCS changes as mitigation strategies of carbon footprint. This study aims to quantify the variability and spatial distribution of the SCS. In an area of 1 ha 45 micro-pit (1 x 0.8 x 1 m) were divided into four strata. Vertical distribution of soil carbon was quantified along with other chemical and physical soil properties that affect rice production in Parrita, Costa Rica. A map of spatial prediction of the distribution and goodness-of-prediction values were calculated to estimate the effectiveness of the SCS prediction when different numbers of sampling points were used 45, 27, 15 and 7 microplots. As accurate measurements, the Mean Absolute Error and the Mean Square Error were calculated. In this study, the SCS was 85.8 (±2.6) Mg C ha-1, into the total profile (0-100 cm), where the first 30 cm represented 46.2%.  Prediction of the spatial distribution suggests that in annual agricultural crops, with tillage systems 15 sampling points ha-1 a can effectively estimate the SCS.

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Author Biographies

Roberto Aguirre-Elizondo, Centro de Investigación en Contaminación Ambiental, Universidad de Costa Rica

Agronomist gratuated from University of Costa Rica and with a master in agricultural sciences and natural resources with an emphasis on soils. Specialized in soil mapping and soil characterization, in oil palm crop in reesearch department at Palma Tica Company . His interest is in the field of mapping, genesis and classification of soils.

Mayela María Monge Muñoz, Centro de Investigación en Contaminación Ambiental, Universidad de Costa Rica

Agronomic Engineer. Professor of the Department of Agronomy at the University of Costa Rica Researcher in the Greenhouse Gas and Carbon Capture Laboratory and the Laboratory of Isotopic Applications and Pollutant Metabolism of the Environmental Pollution Research Center of the University of Costa Rica. She is currently finishing her master's degree in Agroecology. Her research mainly focuses on climate change, mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions and carbon capture in soil in agricultural systems and natural ecosystems. She has experience in coffee production.

Ana Gabriela Pérez-Castillo, Centro de Investigación en Contaminación Ambiental, Universidad de Costa Rica

Professor of the Department of Agronomy at the University of Costa Rica. She has been
director of several graduation projects related to the study of peatlands, greenhouse gas
mitigation, and soil carbon monitoring. Since 2014, she has been the coordinator of the
Greenhouse Gas and Carbon Capture Laboratory of the Environmental Pollution Research
Center of the University of Costa Rica. Her research interests focus on promoting
mitigation and adaptation actions against climate change by reducing greenhouse gas
emissions and increasing carbon capture in agricultural systems and their understanding in
natural ecosystems. Currently, she directs the research projects Climate-smart Agriculture
in rice crop, and Mitigation Strategies for Climate Change in the Management of
Beneficiary Waste and Coffee Crop Fertilization.

Cristina Chinchilla-Soto, Centro de Investigación en Contaminación Ambiental, Universidad de Costa Rica

Cristina Chinchilla-Soto is an Agricultural Engineer, graduated from the University of Costa Rica. She has a Master's Degree in Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources with an emphasis in Soil Sciences from the same University. He obtained his PhD in Environmental and Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Edinburgh, UK in 2013. She works on various aspects related to the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum in agriculture, such as water use efficiency, greenhouse gases and soil carbon, combining field and laboratory techniques, including the use of stable isotopes. She is a researcher at the Environmental Pollution Research Center of the University of Costa Rica (UCR) since 2002. She is a professor at the Faculty of Agronomy of the UCR, in Agroecology and Crop Physiology.

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Published

2025-07-23

How to Cite

Aguirre-Elizondo, Roberto, Mayela María Monge Muñoz, Ana Gabriela Pérez-Castillo, Melvin Alpízar-Marín, Helber Guillen-Arroyo, and Cristina Chinchilla-Soto. 2025. “Carbon Variability in the Soil of a Rice Field in Costa Rica”. Revista Mexicana De Ciencias Agrícolas 16 (5). México, ME:e3664. https://doi.org/10.29312/remexca.v16i5.3664.

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Vol. 16 No. 5 (2025)

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