Detecting the storage and change on topsoil organic carbon in grasslands of Inner Mongolia from 1980s to 2010s

Soil carbon sequestration and potential has been a focal issue in global carbon research. Under the background of global change, the estimation of the size as well as its change of soil organic carbon（SOC） storage is of great importance. Based on soil data from the second national soil survey and field survey during 2011–2012, by using the regression method between sampling soil data and remote sensing data, this paper aimed to investigate spatial distribution and changes of topsoil（0–20 cm） organic carbon storage in grasslands of Inner Mongolia between the 1980 s and 2010 s. The results showed that：（1） the SOC storage in grasslands of Inner Mongolia between the 1980 s and 2010 s was estimated to be 2.05 and 2.17 Pg C, with an average density of 3.48 and 3.69 kg C·m–2, respectively. The SOC storage was mainly distributed in the typical steppe and meadow steppe, which accounted for over 98% of the total SOC storage. The spatial distribution showed a decreased trend from the meadow steppe, typical steppe to the desert steppe, corresponding to the temperature and precipitation gradient.（2） SOC changes during 1982–2012 were estimated to be 0.12 Pg C, at 7.00 g C·m–2·yr–1, which didn＇t show a significant change, indicating that SOC storage in grasslands of Inner Mongolia remained relatively stable over this period. However, topsoil organic carbon showed different trends of carbon source/sink during the past three decades. Meadow steppe and typical steppe had sequestered 0.15 and 0.03 Pg C, respectively, served as a carbon sink; while desert steppe lost 0.06 Pg C, served as a carbon source. It appears that SOC storage in grassland ecosystem may respond differently to climate change, related to vegetation type, regional climate type and grazing intensity. These results might give advice to decision makers on adopting suitable countermeasures for sustainable grassland utilization and protection.     

1980s-2010s内蒙古草地表层土壤有机碳储量及其变化(英文)

Soil carbon sequestration and potential has been a focal issue in global carbon research. Under the background of global change, the estimation of the size as well as its change of soil organic carbon(SOC) storage is of great importance. Based on soil data from the second national soil survey and field survey during 2011–2012, by using the regression method between sampling soil data and remote sensing data, this paper aimed to investigate spatial distribution and changes of topsoil(0–20 cm) organic carbon storage in grasslands of Inner Mongolia between the 1980 s and 2010 s. The results showed that:(1) the SOC storage in grasslands of Inner Mongolia between the 1980 s and 2010 s was estimated to be 2.05 and 2.17 Pg C, with an average density of 3.48 and 3.69 kg C·m–2, respectively. The SOC storage was mainly distributed in the typical steppe and meadow steppe, which accounted for over 98% of the total SOC storage. The spatial distribution showed a decreased trend from the meadow steppe, typical steppe to the desert steppe, corresponding to the temperature and precipitation gradient.(2) SOC changes during 1982–2012 were estimated to be 0.12 Pg C, at 7.00 g C·m–2·yr–1, which didn't show a significant change, indicating that SOC storage in grasslands of Inner Mongolia remained relatively stable over this period. However, topsoil organic carbon showed different trends of carbon source/sink during the past three decades. Meadow steppe and typical steppe had sequestered 0.15 and 0.03 Pg C, respectively, served as a carbon sink; while desert steppe lost 0.06 Pg C, served as a carbon source. It appears that SOC storage in grassland ecosystem may respond differently to climate change, related to vegetation type, regional climate type and grazing intensity. These results might give advice to decision makers on adopting suitable countermeasures for sustainable grassland utilization and protection.     

Shrubs proliferated within a six-year exclosure in a temperate grassland—Spatiotemporal relationships between vegetation and soil variables

Overgrazing has been considered one of the maj or causes that trigger shrub encroachment of grassland. Proliferation of shrubs in grassland is recognized as an important indicator of grassland degradation and desertification. In China, various conservation measures, including enclosures to reduce livestock grazing, have been taken to reverse the trend of grassland desertification, yet shrubs have been reported to increase in the grasslands over the past decades. In late 2007, we set up a 400-m-by-50-m exclosure in a long-term overgrazed temperate grassland in Inner Mongolia, with the ob- jective to quantify the spatiotemporal relationship between vegetation dynamics, soil variables, and grazing exclusion. Soil moisture was continuously monitored within the exclosure, and cover and aboveground biomass of the shrubs were measured inside the exclosure in 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2013, and outside the exclosure in 2012 and 2013. We found the average shrub cover and biomass significantly increased in the six years by 103 % and 120%, respectively. The result supported the hypothesis that releasing grazing pressure following long-term overgrazing tends to trigger shrub invasion into grassland. Our results, limited to a single gradient, suggest that any conservation measures with quick release of overgrazing pressure by enclosure or other similar means might do just the opposite to accelerate shrub en- croachment in grassland. The changes in vegetation cover and biomass were regressed on the temporal average of the soil moisture content by means of the generalized least square technique to quantify the effect of the spatial autocor- relation. The result indicates that the grass cover and biomass significantly increased with the top, but decreased with the bottom layer soil moisture. The shrub cover and biomass, on the other hand, decreased with the top, but increased with bottom soil moisture, although the regression coefficients for the shrubs were not statistically significant. Hence this study supports the two-layered soil model which assumes grasses and shrubs use belowground resources in dif- ferent depths.     

The weak effects of fencing on ecosystem respiration, CH4, and N2O fluxes in a Tibetan alpine meadow during the growing season

Fencing is the most common land-management practice to protect grassland degradation from livestock overgrazing on the Tibetan Plateau. However, it is unclear whether fencing reduces CO_2, CH_4, and N_2O emission. Here, we selected four vegetation types of alpine meadow(graminoid, shrub, forb, and sparse vegetation) to determine fencing effects on ecosystem respiration(Re), CH_4, and N_2O fluxes during the growing season. Despite increased average monthly ecosystem respiration(Re) for fenced graminoid vegetation at the end of the growing season, there was no significant difference between grazing and fencing across all vegetation types. Fencing significantly reduced average CH_4 uptake by about 50% in 2008 only for forb vegetation and increased average N_2O release for graminoid vegetation by 38% and 48% in 2008 and 2009,respectively. Temperature, moisture, total organic carbon, C/N, nitrate, ammonia, and/or bulk density of soil, as well as above-and belowground biomass, explained 19%~71% and 6%~33% of variation in daily and average Re and CH_4 fluxes across all vegetation types, while soil-bulk density explained 27% of variation in average N_2O fluxes. Stepwise regression showed that soil temperature and soil moisture controlled average Re, while soil moisture and bulk density controlled average CH_4 fluxes. These results indicate that abiotic factors control Re, CH_4, and N_2O fluxes; and grazing exclusion has little effect on reducing their emission—implying that climatic change rather than grazing may have a more important influence on the budgets of Re and CH_4 for the Tibetan alpine meadow during the growing season.     

Seasonal changes in the relationship between species richness and community biomass in grassland under grazing and exclosure, Horqin Sandy Land, northern China

How species diversity–productivity relationships respond to temporal dynamics and land use is still not clear in semi-arid grassland ecosystems. We analyzed seasonal changes of the relationships between vegetation cover, plant density, species richness, and aboveground biomass in grasslands under grazing and exclosure in the Horqin Sandy Land of northern China. Our results showed that in grazed and fenced grassland, vegetation cover, richness, and biomass were lower in April than in August, whereas plant density showed a reverse trend. Vegetation cover during the growing season and biomass in June and August were higher in fenced grassland than in grazed grassland, whereas plant density in April and June was lower in fenced grassland than in grazed grassland. A negative relationship between species richness and biomass was found in August in fenced grassland, and in grazed grassland the relationship between plant density and biomass changed from positive in April to negative in August. The relationship between the density of the dominant plant species and the total biomass also varied with seasonal changes and land use (grazing and exclosure). These results suggest that long-term grazing, seasonal changes, and their interaction significantly influence vegetation cover, plant density, and biomass in grasslands. Plant species competition in fenced grassland results in seasonal changes of the relationship between species richness and biomass. Long-term grazing also affects seasonal changes of the density and biomass of dominant plant species, which further affects the seasonal relationship between plant density and biomass in grasslands. Our study demonstrates the importance of temporal dynamics and land use in understanding the relationship between species richness and ecosystem function.     

Soil and plant responses to degradation of alpine grassland in source region of the Yellow River

Land degradation has been rapidly taking place in source region of the Yellow River in China. This study was conducted during 2008 in Maduo County to investigate soil and plant changes in relation to land degradation. Several results were derived from this work. First, the soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) decreased significantly on the extremely degraded land comparing with the natural grassland. Second, soil bulk density increased as land degradation worsened. Soil bulk density of the extremely degraded land was significantly greater than that of the grassland. Third, pH showed no obvious variation pattern. Finally, aboveground biomass decreased from grassland to the moderately degraded land. But aboveground biomass increased on the extremely degraded land and very extremely degraded land with most aboveground biomass inedible for livestock.     

1980s-2010s中国陆地生态系统土壤碳储量的变化（英文）

Soil stores a large amount of the terrestrial ecosystem carbon(C) and plays an important role in maintaining global C balance. However, very few studies have addressed the regional patterns of soil organic carbon(SOC) storage and the main factors influencing its changes in Chinese terrestrial ecosystems, especially using field measured data. In this study, we collected information on SOC storage in main types of ecosystems(including forest, grassland, cropland, and wetland) across 18 regions in China during the 1980 s(from the Second National Soil Survey of China, SNSSC) and the 2010 s(from studies published between 2004 and 2014), and evaluated its changing trends during these 30 years. The SOC storage(0–100 cm) in Chinese terrestrial ecosystems was 83.46 ± 11.89 Pg C in the 1980 s and 86.50 ± 8.71 Pg C in the 2010 s, and the net increase over the 30 years was 3.04 ± 1.65 Pg C, with an overall rate of 0.101 ± 0.055 Pg C yr~(–1). This increase was mainly observed in the topsoil(0–20 cm). Forests, grasslands, and croplands SOC storage increased 2.52 ± 0.77, 0.40 ± 0.78, and 0.07 ± 0.31 Pg C, respectively, which can be attributed to the several ecological restoration projects and agricultural practices implemented. On the other hand, SOC storage in wetlands declined 0.76 ± 0.29 Pg C, most likely because of the decrease of wetland area and SOC density. Combining these results with those of vegetation C sink(0.100 Pg C yr~(–1)), the net C sink in Chinese terrestrial ecosystems was about 0.201 ± 0.061 Pg C yr~(–1), which can offset 14.85%–27.79% of the fossil fuel C emissions from the 1980 s to the 2010 s. These first estimates of soil C sink based on field measured data supported the premise that China's terrestrial ecosystems have a large C sequestration potential, and further emphasized the importance of forest protection and reforestation to increase SOC storage capacity.     

内蒙古农牧交错带土地利用变化对土壤碳储量的影响研究（英文）

Soil organic carbon(SOC) stocks in terrestrial ecosystems vary considerably with land use types. Grassland, forest, and cropland coexist in the agro-pastoral ecotone of Inner Mongolia, China. Using SOC data compiled from literature and field investigations, this study compared SOC stocks and their vertical distributions among three types of ecosystems. The results indicate that grassland had the largest SOC stock, which was 1.5-and 1.8-folds more than stocks in forest and cropland, respectively. Relative to the stock in 0–100 cm depth, grassland held more than 40% of its SOC stock in the upper 20 cm soil layer; forest and cropland both held over 30% of their respective SOC stocks in the upper 20 cm soil layer. SOC stocks in grazed grasslands were remarkably promoted after ≥20 years of grazing exclusion. Conservational cultivation substantially increased the SOC stocks in cropland, especially in the 0–40 cm depth. Stand ages, tree species, and forest types did not have obvious impacts on forest SOC stocks in the study area likely due to the younger stand ages. Our study implies that soil carbon loss should be taken into account during the implementation of ecological projects, such as reclamation and afforestation, in the arid and semi-arid regions of China.     

Effects of grazing and climate change on species diversity in sandy grassland, Inner Mongolia, China

To understand the effects of animal grazing activities and climate change on sandy grassland vegetation in northern China, a field grazing and protected enclosure experiment was conducted from 1992 through 2006 in Horqin Sand Land, Inner Mongolia. The results showed that (1) the grazing was primary responsible for changes of the vegetation richness and diversity in the grazing grassland and that changing climate was the main reason for changes in the species richness and diversity in the grassland protected from grazing; (2) light and moderate grazing can promote restoration of the richness and the diversity in the degraded grassland, and heavy grazing could result in a decrease of the richness and diversity; (3) heavy grazing can result in significant decrease of the perennial diversity, and moderate and light grazing promotes increase of the perennial diversity; the grazing, whether heavy or moderate and light grazing, was beneficial to increase of the annual diversity; (4) heavy grazing was not beneficial to diversity of Graminean and Chenopodiaceae, and moderate and light grazing was favorable the diversity of Compositae and Chenopodiaceae; (5) the warm-humid climate was favorable to increase of the richness and the diversity, and the warm-drought climate could result in decease of the richness and the diversity; (6) increased precipitation was favorable to perennial diversity and the diversity of Graminean, Leguminosae, and Compositae, and decreased precipitation had few effects on the annual diversity and Chenopodiaceae diversity.     

黄土高原多沙区环境因子对土地利用变化空间异质性的影响(英文)

In areas with topographic heterogeneity, land use change is spatially variable and influenced by climate, soil properties, and topography. To better understand this variability in the high-sediment region of the Loess Plateau in which soil loss is most severe and sediment diameter is larger than in other regions of the plateau, this study builds some indicators to identify the characteristics of land use change and then analyze the spatial variability as it is affected by climate, soil property, and topography. We build two indicators, a land use change intensity index and a vegetation change index, to characterize the intensity of land use change, and the degree of vegetation restoration, respectively. Based on a subsection mean method, the two indicators are then used to assess the spatial variability of land use change affected by climatic, edaphic, and topographic elements. The results indicate that: 1) Land use changed significantly in the period 1998–2010. The total area experiencing land use change was 42,302 km2, accounting for 22.57%of the study area. High-coverage grassland, other woodland, and forest increased significantly, while low-coverage grassland and farmland decreased in 2010 compared with 1998. 2) Land use change occurred primarily west of the Yellow River, between 35 and 38 degrees north latitude. The four transformation types, including(a) low-coverage grassland to medium-coverage grassland,(b) medium-coverage grassland to high-coverage grassland,(c) farmland to other woodland, and(d) farmland to medium-coverage grassland, were the primary types of land use change, together constituting 60% of the area experiencing land use change. 3) The spatial variability of land use change was significantly affected by properties of dryness/wetness, soil conditions and slope gradient. In general, land use changed dramatically in semi-arid regions, remained relativelystable in arid regions, changed significantly in clay-rich soil, remained relatively stable in clay-poor soil, changed dramatically in steeper slopes, and remained relatively stable in tablelands and low-lying regions. The increase in vegetation coincided with increasing changes in land use for each physical element. These findings allow for an evaluation of the effect of the Grain to Green Program, and are applicable to the design of soil and water conservation projects on the Loess Plateau of China.     

The effect of environmental factors on spatial variability in land use change in the high-sediment region of China’s Loess Plateau

In areas with topographic heterogeneity, land use change is spatially variable and influenced by climate, soil properties, and topography. To better understand this variability in the high-sediment region of the Loess Plateau in which soil loss is most severe and sediment diameter is larger than in other regions of the plateau, this study builds some indicators to identify the characteristics of land use change and then analyze the spatial variability as it is affected by climate, soil property, and topography. We build two indicators, a land use change intensity index and a vegetation change index, to characterize the intensity of land use change, and the degree of vegetation restoration, respectively. Based on a subsection mean method, the two indicators are then used to assess the spatial variability of land use change affected by climatic, edaphic, and topographic elements. The results indicate that： 1） Land use changed significantly in the period 1998-2010. The total area experiencing land use change was 42,302 km2, accounting for 22.57%of the study area. High-coverage grassland, other woodland, and forest increased significantly, while low-coverage grassland and farmland decreased in 2010 compared with 1998.2） Land use change occurred primarily west of the Yellow River, between 35 and 38 degrees north latitude. The four transformation types, including （a） low-coverage grassland to medium-coverage grassland, （b） medium-coverage grassland to high-coverage grassland, （c） farmland to other woodland, and （d） farmland to medium-coverage grassland, were the primary types of land use change, together constituting 60% of the area experiencing land use change. 3） The spatial variability of land use change was significantly affected by properties of dryness/wetness, soil conditions and slope gradient. In general, land use changed dramatically in semi-arid regions, remained relatively stable in arid regions, changed significantly in clay-rich soil, remained relatively stable in clay-poor soil, changed dramatically in steeper slopes, and remained relatively stable in tablelands and low-lying regions. The increase in vegetation coincided with increasing changes in land use for each physical element. These findings allow for an evaluation of the effect of the Grain to Green Program, and are applicable to the design of soil and water conservation projects on the Loess Plateau of China.     

Impact of human activities on soil respiration: A review

Soil respiration is one of the primary fluxes of carbon between soils and the atmosphere.It is produced by rhizosphere respiration and soil microbial respiration.Soil respiration is not only affected by environmental factors,but also changes with the hu-man-induced disturbances of ecosystems.Land-use,the measures of land management,the pollution of soil,and so on can affect soil respiration and change the soil efflux.According to some research,the authors summed up their impacts on soil respiration by human activities through land-use changes and land-management measures among agroecosystem,grassland ecosystem,and for-est ecosystem.The results showed that (1) when adding fertilization to farmland,the soil respiration will increase;(2) fenced land can decrease soil respiration,while soil respiration in the grazed land at a grassland ecosystem will decline with the increasing of grazing intensity;(3) with grassland fertilization;farmland cultivation;fire,fertilization,and cutting of forest,conflicting results were found in the changes of soil respiration.Perhaps plant species,site condition,and measurement season can lead to different results on soil respiration.     

中国亚热带地区造林对土壤碳周转的影响

Afforestation in China’s subtropics plays an important role in sequestering CO2 from the atmosphere and in storage of soil carbon (C). Compared with natural forests,plantation forests have lower soil organic carbon (SOC) content and great potential to store more C. To better evaluate the effects of afforestation on soil C turnover,we investigated SOC and its stable C isotope (δ13C) composition in three planted forests at Qianyanzhou Ecological Experimental Station in southern China. Litter and soil samples were collected and analyzed for total organic C,δ13C and total nitrogen. Similarly to the vertical distribution of SOC in natural forests,SOC concentrations decrease exponentially with depth. The land cover type (grassland) before plantation had a significant influence on the vertical distribution of SOC. The SOC ?13C composition of the upper soil layer of two plantation forests has been mainly affected by the grass biomass 13C composition. Soil profiles with a change in photosynthetic pathway had a more complex 13C isotope composition distribution. During the 20 years after plantation establishment,the soil organic matter sources influenced both the δ13C distribution with depth,and C replacement. The upper soil layer SOC turnover in masson pine (a mean 34% of replacement in the 10 cm after 20 years) was more than twice as fast as that of slash pine (16% of replacement) under subtropical conditions. The results demonstrate that masson pine and slash pine plantations cannot rapidly sequester SOC into long-term storage pools in subtropical China.     

Comparison of sampling schemes for spatial prediction of soil organic carbon in Northern China

Determining an optimal sample size is a key step in designing field surveys, and is particularly important for detecting the spatial pattern of highly variable properties such as soil organic carbon(SOC). Based on 550 soil sampling points in the nearsurface layer(0 to 20 cm) in a representative region of northern China's agro-pastoral ecotone, we studied effects of four interpolation methods such as ordinary kriging(OK), universal kriging(UK), inverse distance weighting(IDW) and radial basis function(RBF) and random subsampling(50, 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500) on the prediction accuracy of SOC estimation.When the Shannon's Diversity Index(SHDI) and Shannon's Evenness Index(SHEI) was 2.01 and 0.67, the OK method appeared to be a superior method, which had the smallest root mean square error(RMSE) and the mean error(ME) nearest to zero. On the contrary, the UK method performed poorly for the interpolation of SOC in the present study. The sample size of 200 had the most accurate prediction; 50 sampling points produced the worst prediction accuracy. Thus, we used 200 samples to estimate the study area's soil organic carbon density(SOCD) by the OK method. The total SOC storage to a depth of 20 cm in the study area was 117.94 Mt, and its mean SOCD was 2.40 kg/m~2. The SOCD kg/(C·m~2) of different land use types were in the following order: woodland(3.29) grassland(2.35) cropland(2.19) sandy land(1.55).     

Influences of various grazing systems on community biomass of a desert grassland in Inner Mongolia, China

This study investigated the effects of various grazing systems, including continuous grazing, rotational grazing, and no-grazing systems, on the community biomass in the Stipa breviflora Griseb desert grassland during the grazing seasons in 2005, 2006, and 2007, based on study sites established in 1999. We found that the seasonal dynamics of the aboveground biomass were quite similar among the three treatments, which reached peak values in period from August to September during each study year. The continuous grazing system reduced the aboveground biomass from 2005 to 2007 under drought conditions, and the rotational grazing and no-grazing systems maintained more aboveground biomass than the continuous grazing system did. The belowground biomass declined with the increase of soil depth among the three treatments, and in the surface 20-cm soil layer it accounted for more than 60% of the total biomass. The belowground biomass was found to be highly correlated with soil depth under rotational grazing. The total belowground biomass within the 0–100-cm soil layer for rotational grazing was significantly higher than for continuous grazing and no-grazing, and had 15,775 kg/ha more biomass. Our results demonstrate that conservative rotational grazing can alleviate grassland deterioration by reserving more aboveground and belowground biomass than the continuous grazing system does.     

Altitude pattern of carbon stocks in desert grasslands of an arid land region

For estimating the altitude-distribution pattern of carbon stocks in desert grasslands and analyzing the possible mechanism for this distribution, a detailed study was performed through a series of field vegetation surveys and soil samplings from 90 vegetation plots and 45 soil profiles at 9 sites of the Hexi Corridor region, Northwestern China. Aboveground, belowground, and litter-fall biomass-carbon stocks ranged from 43 to 109, 23 to 64, and 5 to 20 g/m2, with mean values of 80.82,44.91, and 12.15 g/m2, respectively. Soil-carbon stocks varied between 2.88 and 3.98 kg/m2, with a mean value of 3.43 kg/m2 in the 0–100-cm soil layer. Both biomass-and soil-carbon stocks had an increasing tendency corresponding to the altitudinal gradient. A significantly negative correlation was found between soil-carbon stock and mean annual temperature, with further better correlations between soil-and biomass-carbon stocks, and mean annual precipitation. Furthermore, soil carbon was found to be positively correlated with soil-silt and-clay content, and negatively correlated with soil bulk density and the volume percent of gravel. It can be concluded that variations in soil texture and climate condition were the key factors influencing the altitudinal pattern of carbon stocks in this desert-grassland ecosystem. Thus, by using the linear-regression functions between altitude and carbon stocks, approximately 4.18 Tg carbon were predicted from the 1,260 km2 of desert grasslands in the study area.     

Ecosystem carbon storage under different scenarios of land use change in Qihe catchment,China

Regional land use change is the main cause of the ecosystem carbon storage changes by affecting emission and sink process.However,there has been little research on the influence of land use changes for ecosystem carbon storage at both temporal and spatial scales.For this study,the Qihe catchment in the southern part of the Taihang Mountains was taken as an example;its land use change from 2005 to 2015 was analyzed,the Markov-CLUE-S composite model was used to predict land use patterns in 2025 under natural growth,cultivated land protection and ecological conservation scenario,and the land use data were used to evaluate ecosystem carbon storage under different scenarios for the recent 10-year interval and the future based on the carbon storage module of the In VEST model.The results show the following:(1) the ecosystem carbon storage and average carbon density of Qihe catchment were 3.16×107 t and 141.9 t/ha,respectively,and decreased by 0.07×107 t and 2.89 t/ha in the decade evaluated.(2) During 2005–2015,carbon density mainly decreased in low altitude areas.For high altitude area,regions with increased carbon density comprised a similar percentage to regions with decreased carbon density.The significant increase of the construction areas in the middle and lower reaches of Qihe and the degradation of upper reach woodland were core reasons for carbon density decrease.(3) For 2015–2025,under natural growth scenario,carbon storage and carbon density also significantly decrease,mainly due to the decrease of carbon sequestration capacity in low altitude areas;under cultivated land protection scenario,the decrease of carbon storage and carbon density will slow down,mainly due to the increase of carbon sequestration capacity in low altitude areas;under ecological conservation scenario,carbon storage and carbon density significantly increase and reach 3.19×107 t and 143.26 t/ha,respectively,mainly in regions above 1100 m in altitude.Ecological conservation scenario can enhance carbon sequestration capacity but cannot effectively control the reduction of cultivated land areas.Thus,land use planning of research areas should consider both ecological conservation and cultivated land protection scenarios to increase carbon sink and ensure the cultivated land quality and food safety.     

中国东部森林土壤腐殖碳组分纬度格局及其影响因素（英文）

Soil humic carbon is an important component of soil organic carbon(SOC) in terrestrial ecosystems. However, no study to date has investigated its geographical patterns and the main factors that influence it at a large scale, despite the fact that it is critical for exploring the influence of climate change on soil C storage and turnover. We measured levels of SOC, humic acid carbon(HAC), fulvic acid carbon(FAC), humin carbon(HUC), and extractable humus carbon(HEC) in the 0–10 cm soil layer in nine typical forests along the 3800-km North-South Transect of Eastern China(NSTEC) to elucidate the latitudinal patterns of soil humic carbon fractions and their main influencing factors. SOC, HAC, FAC, HUC, and HEC increased with increasing latitude(all P0.001), and exhibited a general trend of tropical subtropical temperate. The ratios of humic C fractions to SOC were 9.48%–12.27%(HAC), 20.68%–29.31%(FAC), and 59.37%–61.38%(HUC). Climate, soil texture, and soil microbes jointly explained more than 90% of the latitudinal variation in SOC, HAC, FAC, HEC, and HUC, and interactive effects were important. These findings elucidate latitudinal patterns of soil humic C fractions in forests at a large scale, and may improve models of soil C turnover and storage.     

土地利用方式对内蒙古典型草地生态系统碳氮固持的影响(英文)

To explore the optimal land-use for soil carbon(C) sequestration in Inner Mongolian grasslands,we investigated C and nitrogen(N) storage in soil and soil fractions in 8 floristically and topographically similar sites which subjected to different land-use types(free-grazing,grazing exclusion,mowing,winter grazing,and reclamation).Compared with free-grazing grasslands,C and N storage in the 0-50 cm layer increased by 18.3%(15.5 Mg C ha-1) and 9.3%(0.8 Mg N ha-1) after 10-yr of grazing exclusion,respectively,and 21.9%(18.5 Mg C ha-1) and 11.5%(0.9 Mg N ha-1) after 30-yr grazing exclusion,respectively.Similarly,soil C and N storage increased by 15.3%(12.9 Mg C ha-1) and 10.2%(0.8 Mg N ha-1) after 10-yr mowing,respectively,and 19.2%(16.2 Mg C ha-1) and 7.1%(0.6 Mg N ha-1) after 26-yr mowing,respectively.In contrast,soil C and N storage declined by 10.6%(9.0 Mg C ha-1) and 11.4%(0.9 Mg N ha-1) after 49-yr reclamation,respectively.Moreover,increases in C and N storage mainly occurred in sand and silt fractions in the 0-10 cm soil layer with grazing exclusion and mowing.Our findings provided evidence that Inner Mongolian grasslands have the capacity to sequester C and N in soil with improved management practices,which were in the order:grazing exclusion > mowing > winter grazing > reclamation.     

Effects of land use and cultivation time on soil organic and inorganic carbon storage in deep soils

The vertical distribution and exchange mechanisms of soil organic and inorganic carbon(SOC, SIC) play an important role in assessing carbon(C) cycling and budgets. However, the impact of land use through time for deep soil C(below 100 cm) is not well known. To investigate deep C storage under different land uses and evaluate how it changes with time, we collected soil samples to a depth of 500 cm in a soil profile in the Gutun watershed on the Chinese Loess Plateau(CLP); and determined SOC, SIC, and bulk density. The magnitude of SOC stocks in the 0–500 cm depth range fell into the following ranking: shrubland(17.2 kg m~(-2)) grassland(16.3 kg m~(-2)) forestland(15.2 kg m~(-2)) cropland(14.1 kg m~(-2)) gully land(6.4 kg m~(-2)). The ranking for SIC stocks were: grassland(104.1 kg m~(-2)) forestland(96.2 kg m~(-2)) shrubland(90.6 kg m~(-2)) cropland(82.4 kg m~(-2)) gully land(50.3 kg m~(-2)). Respective SOC and SIC stocks were at least 1.6-and 2.1-fold higher within the 100–500 cm depth range, as compared to the 0–100 cm depth range. Overall SOC and SIC stocks decreased significantly from the 5 th to the 15 th year of cultivation in croplands, and generally increased up to the 70 th year. Both SOC and SIC stocks showed a turning point at 15 years cultivation, which should be considered when evaluating soil C sequestration. Estimates of C stocks greatly depends on soil sampling depth, and understanding the influences of land use and time will improve soil productivity and conservation in regions with deep soils.