| Summary: | African woodland ecosystems function as important reservoirs for soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN). However, these ecosystem functions are particularly sensitive to social-ecological factors, the impacts of which remain understudied. Here, we examine how vegetation type and charcoal production affect SOC and TN in dry woodlands of southern Africa, focusing on three woodland ecosystems that represent the main types in southern Mozambique: Androstachys forest, Combretum woodland and Mopane woodlands. Drawing on data from soil surveys at 0 – 5 cm and 0 – 30 cm depth in different vegetation types and both distant from and proximate to sites of active charcoal production, we estimate that woodlands in Mabalane District store on average 19 ± 10 (± SE) Mg ha-1 of SOC, and 2.2 ± 0.9 Mg ha-1 of TN at 0 – 30 cm, significantly lower than values reported for other Miombo woodlands in the region. Our analysis shows that woodland type does not directly influence the amount of SOC and TN stored in soil, and that soil proximate to charcoal kilns had twice the amount of SOC (30.0 ± 1.8 Mg ha-1) and TN (4.5 ± 0.5 Mg ha-1) compared with non-charcoal plots. This study adds to our understanding of the impact of charcoal production on soil SOC and TN in dry woodlands of southern Africa, and demonstrates some localised impacts of charcoal production. We discuss the implications of our findings in the light of emerging carbon-based payments for ecosystem services programmes in the region.
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