Himalayan soils are highly susceptible to the impacts of climate change and land-use shifts. Soil organic carbon (SOC) and the carbon management index (CMI) are key measures of soil health in response to land use changes. This study assessed total organic carbon (TOC), carbon fractions, carbon pool index (CPI), CMI, and physicochemical properties in forest and agricultural land-use systems in the temperate western Himalayas.
Soil samples were collected across 32 distinct sites representing forest (FS), wheat (WS), rice (RS), and maize (MS) systems (n = 32). FS exhibited the highest average TOC (25.6 g kg-1), followed by MS (19.3 g kg-1), WS (15.2 g kg-1), and RS (14 g kg-1). TOC levels differed significantly between land-use categories (ANOVA; F = 13.4, P
