Effects of land cover on soil organic carbon stock in a karst landscape with discontinuous soil distribution

Land cover type is critical for soil organic carbon(SOC) stocks in territorial ecosystems. However, impacts of land cover on SOC stocks in a karst landscape are not fully understood due to discontinuous soil distribution. In this study, considering soil distribution, SOC content and density were investigated along positive successional stages(cropland, plantation, grassland, scrubland, secondary forest, and primary forest) to determine the effects of land cover type on SOC stocks in a subtropical karst area. The proportion of continuous soil on the ground surface under different land cover types ranged between 0.0% and 79.8%. As land cover types changed across the positive successional stages, SOC content in both the 0–20 cm and 20–50 cm soil layers increased significantly. SOC density(SOCD) within 0–100 cm soil depth ranged from 1.45 to 8.72 kg m-2, and increased from secondary forest to primary forest, plantation, grassland, scrubland, and cropland, due to discontinuous soil distribution. Discontinuous soil distribution had a negative effect on SOC stocks, highlighting the necessity for accurate determination of soil distribution in karst areas. Generally, ecological restoration had positive impacts on SOC accumulation in karst areas, but this is a slow process. In the short term, the conversion of croplandto grassland was found to be the most efficient way for SOC sequestration.     

Change of Soil Organic Carbon after Cropland Afforestation in ′Beijing-Tianjin Sandstorm Source Control′ Program Area in China

Land use change is one of the major factors that affect soil organic carbon(SOC) variation and global carbon balance. However, the effects of land use change on SOC are always variable. In this study, using a series of paired-field experiments, we estimated the effects of revegetation types and environmental conditions on SOC stock and vertical distribution after replacement of cropland with poplar(Populus tomentosa) and korshinsk peashrub(Caragana korshinskii) in three climate regions(Chifeng City, Fengning City and Datong City of the ′Beijing-Tianjin Sandstorm Source Control′(BTSSC) program area. The results show that SOC sequestration rate ranges from 0.15 Mg/(ha·yr) to 3.76 Mg/(ha·yr) in the soil layer of 0–100 cm in early stage after cropland afforestation in the BTSSC program area. The SOC accumulation rates are the highest in Fengning for both the two vegetation types. Compared to C. korshinskii, P. tomentosa has greater effects on SOC accumulation in the three climate regions, but significantly greater effect only appears in Datong. The SOC density increases by 20%–111% and 15%–59% for P. tomentosa and 9%–63% and 0–73% for C. korshinskii in the 0–20 cm and 20–100 cm soil layers, respectively. Our results indicate that cropland afforestation not only affects SOC stock in the topsoil, but also has some effects on subsoil carbon. However, the effect of cropland afforestation on SOC accumulation varied with climate regions and revegetation types. Considering the large area of revegetation and relatively high SOC accumulation rate, SOC sequestration in the BTSSC program should contribute significantly to decrease the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere.     

Effect of Wetland Reclamation on Soil Organic Carbon Stability in Peat Mire Soil Around Xingkai Lake in Northeast China

Content and density of soil organic carbon(SOC) and labile and stable SOC fractions in peat mire soil in wetland, soybean field and rice paddy field reclaimed from the wetland around Xingkai Lake in Northeast China were studied. Studies were designed to investigate the impact of reclamation of wetland for soybean and rice farming on stability of SOC. After reclamation, SOC content and density in the top 0–30 cm soil layer decreased, and SOC content and density in soybean field were higher than that in paddy field. Content and density of labile SOC fractions also decreased, and density of labile SOC fractions and their ratios with SOC in soybean field were lower than that observed in paddy field. In the 0–30 cm soil layer, densities of labile SOC fractions, namely, dissolved organic carbon(DOC), microbial biomass carbon(MBC), readily oxidized carbon(ROC) and readily mineralized carbon(RMC), in both soybean field and paddy field were all found to be lower than those in wetland by 34.00% and 13.83%, 51.74% and 35.13%, 62.24% and 59.00%, and 64.24% and 17.86%, respectively. After reclamation, SOC density of micro-aggregates( 0.25 mm) as a stable SOC fraction and its ratio with SOC in 0–5, 5–10, 10–20 and 20–30 cm soil layers increased. SOC density of micro-aggregates in the 0–30 cm soil layer in soybean field was 50.83% higher than that in paddy field. Due to reclamation, SOC density and labile SOC fraction density decreased, but after reclamation, most SOC was stored in a more complex and stable form. Soybean farming is more friendly for sustainable SOC residence in the soils than rice farming.     

Soil organic carbon and nutrients along an alpine grassland transect across Northern Tibet

Soil carbon and nutrient contents and their importance in advancing our understanding of biogeochemical cycling in terrestrial ecosystem, has motivated ecologists to find their spatial patterns in various geographical area. Few studies have focused on changes in the physical and chemical properties of soils at high altitudes. Our aim was to identify the spatial distribution of soil physical and chemical properties in cold and arid climatic region. We also tried to explore relationship between soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), available nitrogen (AN), available phosphorus (AP), soil particle size distribution (PSD). Samples were collected at 44 sites along a 300 km transect across the alpine grassland of northern Tibet. The study results showed that grassland type was the main factor influencing SOC, TN and TP distribution along the Gangdise Mountain-Shenzha-Shuanghu Transect. SOC, TN and TP contents were significantly higher in alpine meadow than alpine steppe ecosystems. SOC, TN, TP and AN contents in two soil layers (0-15 cm and 15-30 cm) showed no significant differences, while AP content in top soil (0-15 cm) was significantly higher than that in sub-top soil (15-30 cm). SOC content was correlated positively with TN and TP content (r = 0.901 and 0.510, respectively). No correlations were detected for clay content and fractal dimension of particle size distribution (D). Our study results indicated the effects of vegetation on soil C, N and P seem to be more important than that of rocks itself along latitude gradient on the northern Tibetan Plateau. However, we did not found similar impacts of vegetation on soil properties in depth. Inaddition, this study also provided an interesting contribution to the global data pool on soil carbon stocks.     

Labile organic matter content and distribution as affected by six-year soil amendments to eroded Chinese mollisols

Labile organic carbon （LOC） is a fraction of soil organic carbon （SOC） with rapid turnover time and is affected by soil fertilization. This investigation characterized the SOC content, LOC content and LOC distribution in the treatment plots of surface soil erosion at five levels （0-, 5-, 10-, 20- and 30-cm erosion）. The soil had received contrasting fertilizer treatments （i.e., chemical fertilizer or chemical fertilizer ＋ manure） for 6 years. This study demonstrated that both SOC and various LOC fractions contents were higher in the plots with fertilizer ＋ manure than in those with fertilizer alone under the same erosion conditions. The SOC and LOC contents de- creased as the erosion depth increased. Light fraction organic carbon, particulate organic carbon, easily oxidizable organic carbon （KMnO4-oxydizable organic carbon）, and microbial biomass carbon were 27% 57%, 37%-7%, 20%-25%, and 29%-33% higher respectively in the fertilizer ＋ manure plots, than in the fertilizer alone plots. Positive correlations （p 〈 0.05） between SOC content and different fractions contents were observed in all plots except the correlation between total SOC content and water-soluble organic carbon content in the different fertilization treatments. Obviously, fertilizer ＋ manure treatments would be conducive to the accumulation of LOC and SOC in the Black soil of Northeast China.     

Soil organic carbon pool along different altitudinal level in the Sygera Mountains,Tibetan Plateau

Labile organic carbon (LOC) is one of the most important indicators of soil organic matter quality and dynamics elevation and plays important function in the Tibetan Plateau climate. However, it is unknown what the sources and causes of LOC contamination are. In this study, soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), microbial biomass carbon (MBC), microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN) and LOC were analyzed based on different soil horizons and elevations using turnover time in an experimental site (3700 m to 4300 m area) in Sygera. SOC and LOC in higher-elevation vegetation types were higher than that of in lower-elevation vegetation types. Our results presented that the soil microbial biomass carbon (SMBC) and soil microbial biomass nitrogen (SMBN) were positively correlated with SOC. The content of easily oxidized carbon (EOC), particulate organic carbon (POC) and light fraction organic carbon (LFOC) decreased with depth increasing and the content were the lowest in the 60 cm to 100 cm depth. The total SOC, ROC and POC contents decreased with increasing soil horizons. The SOC, TN, MBC and MBN contents increased with increasing altitude in the Sygera Mountains. The MBC and MBN contents were different with the changes of SOC (p<0.05), meanwhile, both LFOC and POC were related to total SOC (p<0.05). The physical and chemical properties of soil, including temperature, humidity, and altitude, were involved in the regulation of SOC, TN, MBC, MBN and LFOC contents in the Sygera Mountains, Tibetan Plateau.     

Distribution of soil carbon in different grassland types of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Accurate estimate of soil carbon storage is essential to reveal the role of soil in global carbon cycle. However, there is large uncertainty on the estimation of soil organic carbon (SOC) storage in grassland among previous studies, and the study on soil inorganic carbon (SIC) is still lack. We surveyed 153 sites during plant peak growing season and estimated SOC and SIC for temperate desert, temperate steppe, alpine steppe, steppe meadow, alpine meadow and swamp, which covered main grassland in the Qinghai Plateau during 2011 to 2012. The results showed that the vertical and spatial distributions of SOC and SIC varied by grassland types. The SOC amount mainly decreased from southeast to northwest, whereas the SIC amount increased from southeast to northwest. The magnitude of SOC amount in the top 50 cm across grassland types ranked by: swamp > alpine meadow > steppe meadow > temperate steppe > alpine steppe > temperate desert, while the SIC amount showed an opposite order. There was a great deal of variation in proportion of SOC and SIC among different grassland types (from 55.17 to 94.59 for SOC and 5.14 to 44.83 for SIC). The total SOC and SIC storage was 5.78 Pg and 1.37 Pg, respectively, in the top 50 cm of soil in Qinghai Province. The mixed linear model revealed that grassland types was the predominant factor in spatial variations of SOC amount while grassland types and soil pH accounted for those of SIC amount. Our results suggested that the community shift of alpine meadow towards alpine grassland induced by climate warming would decrease carbon sequestration capacity by 6.0 kg C m².     

Soil physicochemical properties and vegetation structure along an elevation gradient and implications for the response of alpine plant development to climate change on the northern slopes of the Qilian Mountains

Elevation is one of key factors to affect changes in the environment, particularly changes in conditions of light, water and heat. Studying the soil physicochemical properties and vegetation structure along an elevation gradient is important for understanding the responses of alpine plants andtheir growing environment to climate change. In this study, we studied plant coverage, plant height, species richness, soil water-holding capacity, soil organic carbon(SOC) and total nitrogen(N) on the northern slopes of the Qilian Mountains at elevations from2124 to 3665 m. The following conclusions were drawn:(1) With the increase of elevation, plant coverage and species richness first increased and then decreased, with the maximum values being at 3177 m.Plant height was significantly and negatively correlated with elevation(r=–0.97, P0.01), and the ratio of decrease with elevation was 0.82 cm·100 m-1.(2) Both soil water-holding capacity and soil porosity increased on the northern slopes of the Qilian Mountains with the increase of elevation. The soil saturated water content at the 0-40 cm depth first increased and then stabilized with a further increase of elevation, and the average ratio of increase was2.44 mm·100 m-1. With the increase of elevation, the average bulk density at the 0-40 cm depth first decreased and then stabilized at 0.89 g/cm3.(3) With the increase of elevation, the average SOC content at the 0-40 cm depths first increased and then decreased,and the average total N content at the 0-40 cm depth first increased and then stabilized. The correlation between average SOC content and average total N content reached significant level. According to the results of this study, the distribution of plants showed a mono-peak curve with increasing elevation on the northern slopes of the Qilian Mountains. The limiting factor for plant growth at the high elevation areas was not soil physicochemical properties, and therefore,global warming will likely facilitate the development of plant at high elevation areas in the Qilian Mountains.     

Comparison on soil carbon stocks between urban and suburban topsoil in Beijing,China

The urban population and urbanized land in China have both increased markedly since the 1980s. Urban and suburban developments have grown at unprecedented rates with unknown consequences for ecosystem functions. In particular, the effect of rapid urbanization on the storage of soil carbon has not been studied extensively. In this study, we compared the soil carbon stocks of different land use types in Beijing Municipality. We collected 490 top-soil samples （top 20 cm） from urban and suburban sites within the Sixth Ring Road of Beijing, which cover approximately 2400 km2, and the densities of soil organic carbon （SOC）, soil inorganic carbon （SIC）, and total carbon （TC） were analyzed to determine the spatial distribution of urban and suburban soil carbon characteristics across seven land use types. The results revealed significant differences in soil carbon densities among land use types. Additionally, urban soil had significantly higher SOC and SIC densities than suburban soil did, and suburban shelterbelts and productive plantations had lower SIC densities than the other land use types. The comparison of coefficients of variance （CVs） showed that carbon content of urban topsoil had a lower variability than that of suburban topsoil. Further findings revealed that soil carbon storage increased with built-up age. Ur- ban soil built up for more than 20 years had higher densities of SOC, SIC and TC than both urban soil with less than 10 years and sub- urban soil. Correlation analyses indicated the existence of a significantly negative correlation between the SOC, SIC, and TC densities of urban soil and the distance to the urban core, and the distance variable alone explained 23.3% of the variation of SIC density and 13.8% of the variation of TC density. These results indicate that SOC and SIC accumulate in the urban topsoil under green space as a result of the conversion of agricultural land to urban land due to the urbanization in Beijing.     

Effects of Reclamation on Soil Carbon and Nitrogen in Coastal Wetlands of Liaohe River Delta,China

To evaluate the influence of wetland reclamation on vertical distribution of carbon and nitrogen in coastal wetland soils, we measured the soil organic carbon(SOC), soil total nitrogen(STN) and selected soil properties at five sampling plots(reed marsh, paddy field, corn field, forest land and oil-polluted wetland) in the Liaohe River estuary in September 2013. The results showed that reclamation significantly changed the contents of SOC and STN in the Liaohe River estuary(P 0.001). The SOC concentrations were in the order: oil-polluted wetland corn field paddy field forest land reed marsh, with mean values of 52.17, 13.14, 11.46, 6.44 and 6.16 g/kg, respectively. STN followed a similar order as SOC, with mean values of 1351.14, 741.04, 632.32, 496.17 and 390.90 mg/kg, respectively. Interaction of reclamation types and soil depth had significant effects on SOC and STN, while soil depth had significant effects on SOC, but not on STN. The contents of SOC and STN were negatively correlated with pH and redox potential(Eh) in reed marsh and corn field, while the SOC and STN in paddy field had positive correlations with electrical conductivity(EC). Dissolved organic carbon(DOC), ammonium nitrogen(NH_4~+-N) and nitrate nitrogen(NO_3~–-N) were also significantly changed by human activities. NH_4~+-N and NO_3~–-N increased to different degrees, and forest land had the highest NO_3~–-N concentration and lowest DOC concentration, which could have been caused by differences in soil aeration and fertilization. Overall, the results indicate that reed harvest increased soil carbon and nitrogen release in the Liaohe River Estuary, while oil pollution significantly increased the SOC and STN; however, these cannot be used as indicators of soil fertility and quality because of the serious oil pollution.     

Soil Organic Carbon Contents and Stocks in Coastal Salt Marshes with <Emphasis Type="Italic">Spartina alterniflora</Emphasis> Following an Invasion Chronosequence in the Yellow River Delta,China

Plant invasion alters the fundamental structure and function of native ecosystems by affecting the biogeochemical pools and fluxes of materials and energy. Native (Suaeda salsa) and invasive (Spartina alterniflora) salt marshes were selected to study the effects of Spartina alterniflora invasion on soil organic carbon (SOC) contents and stocks in the Yellow River Delta. Results showed that the SOC contents (g/kg) and stocks (kg/m²) were significantly increased (P < 0.05) after Spartina alterniflora invasion of seven years, especially for the surface soil layer (0–20 cm). The SOC contents exhibited an even distribution along the soil profiles in native salt marshes, while the SOC contents were gradually decreased with depth after Spartina alterniflora invasion of seven years. The natural ln response ratios (LnRR) were applied to identify the effects of short-term Spartina alterniflora invasion on the SOC stocks. We also found that Spartina alterniflora invasion might cause soil organic carbon losses in a short-term phase (2–4 years in this study) due to the negative LnRR values, especially for 20–60 cm depth. And the SOCD in surface layer (0–20 cm) do not increase linearly with the invasive age. Spearman correlation analysis revealed that silt + clay content was exponentially related with SOC in surface layer (Adjusted R2 = 0.43, P < 0.001), suggesting that soil texture could play a key role in SOC sequestration of coastal salt marshes.     

Effects of grazing exclusion on plant productivity and soil carbon,nitrogen storage in alpine meadows in northern Tibet,China

Grazing exclusion is widely adopted in restoring degraded alpine grasslands on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. However, its effectiveness remains poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the effects of grazing exclusion on plant productivity, species diversity and soil organic carbon （SOC） and soil total nitrogen （STN） storage along a transect spanning from east to west of alpine meadows in northern Tibet, China. After six years of grazing exclusion, plant cover, aboveground biomass （AGB）, belowground biomass （BGB）, SOC and STN were increased, but species diversity indices declined. The enhancement of AGB and SOC caused by grazing exclusion was correlated positively with mean annual precipitation （MAP）. Grazing exclusion led to remarkable biomass increase of sedge species, especially Kobresia pygmaea, whereas decrease of biomass in forbs and no obvious change in grass, leguminous and noxious species. Root biomass was concentrated in the near surface layer （10 cm） after grazing exclusion. The effects of grazing exclusion on SOC storage were confined to shallow soil layer in sites with lower MAP. It is indicated that grazing exclusion is an effective measure to increase forage production and enhance soil carbon sequestration in the studied region. The effect is more efficient in sites with higher precipitation. However, the results revealed a tradeoff between vegetation restoration and ecological biodiversity. Therefore, carbon pools recover more quickly than plant biodiversity in the alpine meadows. We suggest that grazing exclusion should be combined with other measures to reconcile grassland restoration and biodiversitv conservation.     

Storage and density of soil organic carbon in urban topsoil of hilly cities: A case study of Chongqing Municipality of China

Rapid urbanization results in the conversion of natural soil to urban soil,and consequently,the storage and density of the soil carbon pools change.Taking Chongqing Municipality of China as a study case,this investigation attempts to better understand soil carbon pools in hilly cities.First,the vegetated areas in the study area were derived from QuickBird images.Then,topsoil data from 220 soil samples(0-20 cm) in the vegetated areas were collected and their soil organic carbon(SOC) densities were analyzed.Using the Kriging interpolation method,the spatial pattern of SOC was estimated.The results show that the SOC density exhibited high spatial variability in the urban topsoil of Chongqing.First,the SOC density in topsoil decreased according to slope in the order 2°-6° < 25°-90° < 0°-2° < 6°-15° < 15°-25°.Second,the newly developed areas during 2001-2010 had a lower SOC density than the areas built before 1988.Third,urban parks and gardens had a higher SOC density in topsoil,residential green land followed,and scattered street green land ranked last.For hilly cities,the variability of terrain affects the distribution of SOC.The Kriging results indicate that Kriging method combining slope with SOC density produced a high level of accuracy.The Kriging results show that the SOC density to the north of the Jialing River was higher than the south.The vegetated areas were estimated to amount to 73.5 km2 across the study area with an SOC storage of 0.192 Tg and an average density of 2.61 kg/m2.     

Relationship between soil and water conservation practices and soil conditions in low mountain and hilly region of Northeast China

The soil and water conservation practices of ecological restoration（ER）,fish scale pit（FP）,furrow and ridge tillage across the slope（FR）,shrub strips（SS）,and vegetation-covered ridge（VR） are characteristic of the Jixing small watershed of the low mountain and hilly region of Jilin Province,Northeast China. This study aims to elucidate the effects of soil and water conservation practices on soil conditions after the short-term implementation of practices. Soil samples were collected from five soil and water conservation sites（ER,FP,FR,SS,and VR） and two controls（BL and CT） to investigate their properties. To evaluate the influence of soil and water conservation practices on soil quality,an integrated quantitative index,soil quality index（QI）,was developed to compare the soil quality under the different soil and water conservation practices. The results show that not all soil and water conservation practices can improve the soil conditions and not all soil properties,especially soil organic carbon（SOC）,can be recovered under soil and water conservation practice in short-term. Moreover,the QI in the five soil and water conservation practices and two controls was in the following order： ER VR BL FR CT SS FP. ER exhibited a higher soil quality value on a slope scale. In the low mountain and hilly region of Northeast China,ER is a better choice than the conversion of farmlands to planted grasslands and woodlands early in the soil and water conservation program.     

Land use effects on soil organic carbon,microbial biomass and microbial activity in Changbai Mountains of Northeast China

Land use changes are known to alter soil organic carbon （SOC） and microbial properties, however, information about how conversion of natural forest to agricultural land use as well as plantations affects SOC and microbial properties in the Changbai Moun- tains of Northeast China is meager. Soil carbon content, microbial biomass carbon （MBC）, basal respiration and soil carbon mineraliza- tion were studied in five selected types of land use： natural old-growth broad-leaved Korean pine mixed forest （NF）; spruce plantation （SP） established following clear-cutting of NF; cropland （CL）; ginseng farmland （GF） previously under NF; and a five-year Mongolian oak young forest （YF） reforested on an abandoned GF, in the Changbai Mountains of Northeast China in 2011. Results showed that SOC content was significantly lower in SP, CL, GF, and YF than in NF. MBC ranged from 304.4 mg/kg in CL to 1350.3 mg/kg in NF, which was significantly higher in the soil of NF than any soil of the other four land use types. The SOC and MBC contents were higher in SP soil than in CL, GF, and YF soils, yielding a significant difference between SP and CL. The value of basal respiration was also higher in NF than in SP, CL, GF, and YF. Simultaneously, higher values of the metabolic quotient were detected in CL, GF, and YF soils, indicat- ing low substrate utilization of the soil microbial community compared with that in NF and SP soil. The values of cumulative mineral- ized carbon and potentially mineralized carbon （Co） in NF were significantly higher than those in CL and GF, while no significant dif- ference was observed between NF and SP. In addition, YF had higher values of Co and C mineralization rate compared with GF. The results indicate that conversion from NF into agricultural land （CL and GF） uses and plantation may lead to a reduction in soil nutrients （SOC and MBC） and substrate utilization efficiency of the microbial community. By contrast, soils below SP were more conducive to the preservation of soil organic matter, which was reflected in the comparison of microbial indicators among CL, GF, and YF land uses. This study can provide data for evaluating soils nutrients under different land use types, and serve as references for the rational land use of natural forest in the study area.     

Responses of soil moisture to vegetation restoration type and slope length on the loess hillslope

Soil moisture, a critical variable in the hydrologic cycle, is highly influenced by vegetation restoration type. However, the relationship between spatial variation of soil moisture, vegetation restoration type and slope length is controversial. Therefore, soil moisture across soil layers (0-400 cm depth) was measured before and after the rainy season in severe drought (2015) and normal hydrological year (2016) in three vegetation restoration areas (artificial forestland, natural forestland and grassland), on the hillslopes of the Caijiachuan Catchment in the Loess area, China. The results showed that artificial forestland had the lowest soil moisture and most severe water deficit in 100-200 cm soil layers. Water depletion was higher in artificial and natural forestlands than in natural grassland. Moreover, soil moisture in the shallow soil layers (0-100 cm) under the three vegetation restoration types did not significantly vary with slope length, but a significant increase with slope length was observed in deep soil layers (below 100 cm). In 2015, a severe drought hydrological year, higher water depletion was observed at lower slope positions under three vegetation restoration types due to higher transpiration and evapotranspiration and unlikely recharge from upslope runoff. However, in 2016, a normal hydrological year, there was lower water depletion, even infiltration recharge at lower slope positions, indicating receiving a large amount of water from upslope. Vegetation restoration type, precipitation, slope length and soil depth during a rainy season, in descending order of influence, had significant effects on soil moisture. Generally, natural grassland is more beneficial for vegetation restoration than natural and artificial forestlands, and the results can provide useful information for understanding hydrological processes and improving vegetation restoration practices on the Loess Plateau     

Preservation of organic matter in soils of a climo-biosequence in the Main Range of Peninsular Malaysia

Limited information is available about factors of soil organic carbon(SOC) preservation in soils along a climo-biosequence. The objective of this study was to evaluate the role of soil texture and mineralogy on preservation of SOC in the topsoil and subsoil along a climo-biosequence in the Main Range of Peninsular Malaysia. Soil samples from the A and B-horizons of four representative soil profiles were subjected to particle-size fractionation and mineralogical analyses including X-ray diffraction and selective dissolution. The proportion of SOC in the 250-2000 μm fraction(SOC associated with coarse sand) decreased while the proportion of SOC in the 53 μm fraction(SOC associated with clay and silt)increased with depth. This reflected the importance of the fine mineral fractions of the soil matrix for SOC storage in the subsoil. Close relationships between the content of SOC in the 53 μm fraction and the content of poorly crystalline Fe oxides [oxalate-extractable Fe(Fe_o) – pyrophosphate-extractable Fe(Fe_p)] and poorly crystalline inorganic forms of Al [oxalateextractable Al(Al_o) – pyrophosphate-extractable Al(Al_p)] in the B-horizon indicated the importance of poorly crystalline Fe oxides and poorly crystalline aluminosilicates for the preservation of SOC in the Bhorizon. The increasing trend of Fe_o-Fe_p and Al_o-Al_p over elevation suggest that the importance of poorly crystalline Fe oxides and poorly crystalline aluminosilicates for the preservation of SOC in the Bhorizon increased with increasing elevation. This study demonstrates that regardless of differences in climate and vegetation along the studied climobiosequence, preservation of SOC in the subsoil depends on clay mineralogy.     

Effects of wetland utilization change on spatial distribution of soil nematodes in Heihe River Basin,Northwest China

The first account of the effects of wetland reclamation on soil nematode assemblages were provided, three sites in Heihe River Basin of Northwest China, that is grass wetland(GW), Tamarix chinensis wetland(TW) and crop wetland(CW) treatments, were compared. Results showed that the majority of soil nematodes were presented in the 0–20 cm soil layers in CW treatments, followed by in the 20–40 cm and 40–60 cm layers in GW treatments. Plant-feeding nametodes were the most abundant trophic groups in each treatment, where GW(91.0%) TW(88.1%) CW(53.5%). Generic richness(GR) was lower in the TW(16) than that in GW(23) and CW(25). The combination of enrichment index(EI) and structure index(SI) showed that the soil food web in GW was more structured, and those in TW was stressed, while the enrichment soil food web was presented in the CW treatment. Several ecological indices which reflected soil community structure, diversity, Shannon-Weaver diversity(H′), Evenness(J′), Richness(GR) and modified maturity index(MMI) were found to be effective for assessing the response of soil namatode communities to soil of saline wetland reclamation. Furthermore, saline wetland reclamation also exerted great influence on the soil physical and chemical properties(p H, Electric conductivity(EC), Total organic carbon(TOC), Total nitrogen(Total-N) and Nitrate Nitrogen(N-NO3–)). These results indicated that the wetland reclamation had significantly effects on soil nematode community structure and soil properties in this study.     

Response of artificial grassland carbon stock to management in mountain region of Southern Ningxia,China

Grassland is a major carbon sink in the terrestrial ecosystem. The dynamics of grassland carbon stock profoundly influence the global carbon cycle. In the published literatures so far, however, there are limited studies on the long-term dynamics and influential factors of grassland carbon stock, including soil organic carbon. In this study, spatial-temporal substitution method was applied to explore the characteristics of Medicago sativa L.(alfalfa) grassland biomass carbon and soil organic carbon density(SOCD) in a loess hilly region with different growing years and management patterns. The results demonstrated that alfalfa was the mono-dominant community during the cutting period(viz. 0–10 year). Community succession began after the abandonment of alfalfa grassland and then the important value of alfalfa in the community declined. The artificial alfalfa community abandoned for 30 years was replaced by the S. bungeana community. Accordingly, the biomass carbon density of the clipped alfalfa showed a significant increase over the time during 0–10 year. During 0–30 year, the SOCD from 0–100 cm of the soil layer of all 5 management patterns increased over time with a range between 5.300 ± 0.981 kg/m2 and 12.578 ± 0.863 kg/m2. The sloping croplands had the lowest SOCD at 5.300 ± 0.981 kg/m2 which was quite different from the abandoned grasslands growing for 30 years which exhibited the highest SOCD with 12.578 ± 0.863 kg/m2. The ecosystem carbon density of the grassland clipped for 2 years increased 0.1 kg/m2 compared with the sloping cropland, while that of the grassland clipped for 10 years substantially increased to 10.30 ± 1.26 kg/m2. Moreover, the ecosystem carbon density for abandoned grassland became 12.62 ± 0.50 kg/m2 at 30 years. The carbon density of the grassland undisturbed for 10 years was similar to that of the sloping cropland and the grassland clipped for 2 years. Different management patterns imposed great different effects on the accumulation of biomass carbon on artificial grasslands, whereas the ecosystem carbon density of the grassland showed a slight increase from the clipping to abandonment of grassland in general.     

Key variables explaining soil organic carbon content variations in croplands and non-croplands in Chinese provinces

Soil organic carbon (SOC) plays an important role in global carbon cycles.Large spatial variations in SOC contents result in uncertain estimates of the SOC pool and its changes.In the present study,the key variables explaining the SOC contents of croplands (CPs) and non-croplands (NCPs) in Chinese provinces were investigated.Data on SOC and other soil properties (obtained from the Second National Soil Survey conducted in the late 1970s to the early 1990s),climate parameters,as well as the proportion of the CP to the total land area (Pcp) were used.SOC content variations within a province were larger than those among provinces.Soil clay and total phosphorus content,ratio of annual precipitation to mean temperature,as well as Pcp were able to explain 75% of the SOC content variations in whole soil samples.Soil pH,mean temperature during the growing season from May to October,and mean annual wind velocity were able to explain 63% of the SOC content variations in NCP soils.Compared with NCP soils,CP soils had lower SOC contents,with smaller variations within and among provinces and lower C/N ratios.Stepwise regression showed that the soil clay content was a unique factor significantly correlated with the SOC content of CP soils.However,this factor only explained 24% of the variations.This result suggested that variables related to human activities had greater effects on SOC content variations in CP soils than soil properties and climate parameters.Based on SOC contents directly averaged from soil samples and estimated by regression equations,the total SOC pool in the topsoil (0-20 cm) of China was estimated at 60.02 Pg and 57.6 Pg.Thousands of years of intensive cultivation in China resulted in CP topsoil SOC loss of 4.34-4.98 Pg.