Effects of terracing and agroforestry on soil and water loss in hilly areas of the Sichuan Basin,China

Soil erosion in hilly areas of the Sichuan Basin is a serious concern over sustainable crop production and sound ecosystem. A 3-year experiment was conducted using the method of runoff plots to examine the effects of terracing and agroforestry in farmland systems on soil and water conservation of slope fields in the hilly areas in Jianyang County, Sichuan Province, Southwestern China. A power function （Y = aX^b） can statistically describe the relationship between water runoff （Y） and rainfall （X）. The regression equation for the treatment of sloping terraces with crops （Plot 2） is remarkably different from that for the treatment of sloping terraces with grasses and trees （Plot 1） and the conventional up- and down-slope crop system （Plot 3） regarding equation coefficients, while regression equations are similar between Plot 1 and Plot 3. Water runoff amount and runoff coefficient of slope fields increased by 21.5-41.0 % and 27.5 - 69.7 % respectively, compared to those of sloping terraces, suggesting that terracing notably reduced the water runoff in the field. In the case of sloping terraces, lower amount of water runoff was observed on sloping terraces with crops than on sloping terraces with grasses and trees. Sediment yields on the slope fields in the normal year of rainfall distribution were notably higher （34.41 - 331.67 % and 37.06-403.44 % for Plot 1 and Plot 2, respectively） than those on sloping terraces, implying that terracing also plays a significant role in the reduction in soil erosion. It is suggested that terracing with crops is significantly effective for soil and water conservation in cultivated farmland, while the conventional practice of up- and down- slope cultivation creates high rates of water runoff and soil sediment transport. Terracing with grasses and fruit trees shows a less reduction in water runoff than terracing with crops, which was observed in the 3-year experiments.     

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 pools in particle-size fractions as affected by slope gradient and land use change in hilly regions, western Iran

This study was conducted to explore the effects of topography and land use changes on particulate organic carbon(POC),particulate total nitrogen(PTN),organic carbon(OC) and total nitrogen(TN) associated with different size primary particle fractions in hilly regions of western Iran.Three popular land uses in the selected site including natural forest(NF),disturbed forest(DF) and cultivated land(CL) and three slope gradients(0-10 %,S1,10-30 %,S2,and 30-50%,S3) were employed as the basis of soil sampling.A total of 99 soil samples were taken from the 0-10 cm surface layer in the whole studied hilly region studied.The results showed that the POC in the forest land use in all slope gradients was considerably more than the deforested and cultivated lands and the highest value was observed at NF-S1 treatment with 9.13%.The values of PTN were significantly higher in the forest land use and in the down slopes(0.5%) than in the deforested and cultivated counterparts and steep slopes(0.09%) except for the CL land use.The C:N ratios in POC fraction were around 17-18 in the forest land and around 23 in the cultivated land.In forest land,the silt-associated OC was highest among the primary particles.The enrichment factor of SOC,EC,was the highest for POC.For the primary particles,EC of both primary fractions of silt and clay showed following trend for selected land uses and slope gradients:CL> DF> NF and S3 > S2> S1.Slope gradient of landscape significantly affected the OC and TN contents associated with the silt and clay particles,whereas higher OC and TN contents were observed in lower positions and the lowest value was measured in the steep slopes.Overall,the results showed that native forest land improves soil organic carbon storage and can reduce the carbon emission and soil erosion especially in the mountainous regions with high rainfall in west of Iran.     

Paleoclimate study of mountain ecosystems by multiple group biological analysis

Methodological problems of climatic reconstruction for different periods of Holocene are discussed on the basis of a multiple group biological analysis on peat-sapropel sediments.The possibility of biological analysis is exemplified by the paleoclimatic reconstruction for Carpathian and Altai Mountain ranges.For the "Skolevsky Beskidy" national park of Carpaty the paleoclimatic scenarios have been drown up aiming at the more precise definition of climatic conditions for the period of mass mountain slope terracing.The stability of terrace systems of various designs in the current climatic conditions has been assessed.It is shown that during periods of humid climate the terraces,whose designs have been focused on drainage,were built.In periods of dry and warm climate the terrace systems capable of accumulating water were built.Both these types of terrace systems are destroyed in nowadays.Only those terrace systems are stable which were adjusted by their builders to contrast variations of precipitation.For Western Altais the paleoclimatic scenario has been done to forecast the safety of the Bronze Age kurgans(burial earth mounds) with permafrost inside the construction.In the Altay region during the Holocene it has revealed two periods of sharp cooling,the peaks of which occurred in the intervals 4500-4300 and 2500-2300 years ago,and two periods of pronounced climatic drying 4900-4700 and 130-70 years ago.Depletion of the algae composition in the layer corresponding to the last period of drying climate indicates a very sharp change in the parameters of moisture and turning the lake into a dry swamp.Periods of cold weather may have contributed to the formation of special ritual traditions of the Sakan tribes that require the frozen ground to bury the dead.The later climate fluctuations identified have not affected the safety of permafrost in burial mounds constructed in the V-III cc BC.     

Soil Erosion under Different Land Use Types and Zones of Jinsha River Basin in Yunnan Province, China

Severe soil erosion in the middle and upper reaches of Yangtze River has been regarded as a major environmental problem. The on-site impact of soil erosion on agricultural production and the off-site impact on floods and sedimentation in Yangtze Rive are well known. A quantitative assessment of soil erosion intensity is still scanty for developing appropriate soil erosion control measures for different land use types and zohes in this region. This article constructs a localized USLE and estimates the average soil loss in the Jinsha River Region in Yunnan Province, one of the priority areas for soil erosion control in the middle and upper reaches of Yangtze River. The estimation is done under different land uses and zones in this basin. The estimation shows that while soil erosion in the cultivated land is the most severe, 36～40% of the garden and forest land suffers from soil erosion of various degrees due to lack of ground cover and other factors. Soil erosion in the pasture is modest when the ground cover is well maintained. It also confirmed that terracing can reduce soil erosion intensity significantly on the cultivated land. Research findings suggest that sufficient attention must be paid to regeneration of the ground cover in reforestation programs. In addition to mass reforestation efforts, restoration of grassland and terracing of the cultivated land should also play an important role in erosion control.     

基于遥感和景观分类的北京市裸露农田分析和治理对策

基于遥感影像的决策树分类,结合土地利用图,将北京市农业地表覆盖划分为春玉米、冬小麦、果园、林木苗圃、牧草地、设施农业和畜禽饲养地。考虑海拔、坡度和土壤质地三个因子将北京市分成10个景观区,在景观分区和不同农业用地基础上划分出39类农业景观单元。利用基于遥感影像计算的归一化差异植被指数,结合实地调查验证,分类出北京市冬春季裸露农田。结合景观分类,分析了不同景观单元冬春季地表裸露情况。结果表明:2007—2008年冬春季裸露农田共8.05×104 hm2,主要分布在延庆盆地、密云水库北岸和城区边缘的近郊农业区;海拔和土地利用方式对裸露情况影响较大,其中山区春玉米和平原果园裸露情况绝对面积较大,分别占到总裸露农田面积的40%和17%,牧草地、林木苗圃与设施农业地裸露程度较高。基于不同景观单元裸露程度,结合绿肥种植、保护性耕作、生草覆盖等裸露农田治理方法,探讨了北京市农业产业和景观一体化建设策略。     

<Superscript>137</Superscript>Cs tracing dynamics of soil erosion,organic carbon,and total nitrogen in terraced fields and forestland in the Middle Mountains of Nepal

The Middle Mountains is one of the regions of Nepal most vulnerable to water erosion, where fragile geology, steep topography, anomalous climatic conditions, and intensive human activity have resulted in serious soil erosion and enhanced land degradation. Based on the ¹³⁷Cs tracing method, spatial variations in soil erosion, organic carbon, and total nitrogen (TN) in terraced fields lacking field banks and forestland were determined. Soil samples were collected at approximately 5 m and 20 m intervals along terraced field series and forestland transects respectively. Mean 137Cs inventories of the four soil cores from the reference site was estimated at 574.33 ± 126.22 Bq m^-2 (1 Bq (i.e., one Becquerel) is equal to 1 disintegration per second (1 dps)). For each terrace, the ¹³⁷Cs inventory generally increased from upper to lower slope positions, accompanied by a decrease in the soil erosion rate. Along the entire terraced toposequence, ¹³⁷Cs data showed that abrupt changes in soil erosion rates could occur between the lower part of the upper terrace and the upper part of the immediate terrace within a small distance. This result indicated that tillage erosion is also a dominant erosion type in the sloping farmland of this area. At the same time, we observed a fluctuant decrease in soil erosion rates for the whole terraced toposequence as well as a net deposition at the toe terrace. Although steep terraces (lacking banks and hedgerows) to some extent could act to limit soil sediment accumulation in catchments, soil erosion in the terraced field was determined to be serious. For forestland, with the exception of serious soil erosion that had taken place at the top of slopes due to concentrated flows from a country road situated above the forestland site, spatial variation in soil erosion was similar to the “standard” water erosion model. Soil organic carbon (SOC) and TN inventories showed similar spatial patterns to the ¹³⁷Cs inventory for both toposequences investigated. However, due to the different dominant erosion processes between the two, we found similar patterns between the <0.002 mm soil particle size fraction (clay sized) and ¹³⁷Cs inventories in terraced fields, while different patterns could be found between ¹³⁷Cs inventories and the <0.002 mm soil particle size fraction in the forestland site. Such results confirm that ¹³⁷Cs can successfully trace soil erosion, SOC and soil nitrogen dynamics in steep terraced fields and forestland in the Middle Mountains of Nepal.     

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.     

四川石棉森林碳密度空间数据知识挖掘及分布特征分析

森林植被碳密度是衡量森林生态系统服务功能和产品供给功能高低的一个重要指标.本文以四川省石棉县为例,在森林资源二类调查数据的基础上,提出建立森林植被生物量、碳量及其密度GIS数据库,开展其碳密度分布知识发现的研究,从中发现了该县碳密度分布知识.该县有林地森林植被碳量达到364万t,冷杉、云杉、铁杉和桦木占总碳量的83％;...     

Principal Denudation Processes and Their Contribution to Fluvial Suspended Sediment Yields in the Upper Yangtze River Basin and Volga River Basin

This paper synthesized the principal land denudation processes and their role in determining riverine suspended sediment yields(SSY) in two typical geographical environments of the Upper Yangtze River Basin in China and the Volga River Basin in Eastern Europe. In the Upper Yangtze River Basin, natural factors including topography, climate,lithology and tectonic activity are responsible for the spatial variation in the magnitude of denudation rates.Human disturbances have contributed to the temporal changes of soil erosion and fluvial SSY during the past decades. On one hand, land use change caused by deforestation and land reclamation has played an important role in the acceleration of sediment production from the central hilly area and lower Jinsha catchment; On the other hand, diverse soil conservation practices(e.g., reforestation,terracing) have contributed to a reduction of soil erosion and sediment production since the late 1980 s.It was difficult to explicitly decouple the effect of mitigation measures in the Lower Jinsha River Basindue to the complexity associated with sediment redistribution within river channels(active channel migration and significant sedimentation). The whole basin can be subdivided into seven sub-regions according to the different proportional inputs of principal denudation processes to riverine SSY. In the Volga River Basin, anthropogenic sheet, rill and gully erosion are the predominant denudation processes in the southern region, while channel bank and bed erosion constitutes the main source of riverine suspended sediment flux in the northern part of the basin. Distribution of cultivated lands significantly determined the intensity of denudation processes.Local relief characteristics also considerably influence soil erosion rates and SSY in the southern Volga River Basin. Lithology, soil cover and climate conditions determined the spatial distribution of sheet, rill and gully erosion intensity, but they play a secondary role in SSY spatial variation.     

Assessment of Rill Erosion Development during Erosive Storms at Angereb Watershed,Lake Tana Sub-basin in Ethiopia

Application of simple and locally based erosion assessment methods that fit to the local condition is necessary to improve the performance and efficiency of soil conservation practices. In this study, rill erosion formation and development was investigated on the topo-sequence of three catchments(300-500 m slope length); and on agricultural fields(6 m and 14 m slope lengths) with different crop-tillage surfaces during erosive storms.Rill density and rill erosion rates were measured using rill cross section survey and close range digital photogrammetry. Rill formation and development was commonly observed on conditions where there is wider terrace spacing, concave slope shapes and unstable stone terraces on steep slopes. At field plot level, rill development was controlled by the distribution and abrupt change in the soil surface roughness and extent of slope length. At catchment scale, however, rill formation and development was controlled by landscape structures, and concavity and convexity of the slope. Greater rill cross sections and many small local rills were associated to the rougher soil surfaces. For instance, relative comparison of crop tillage practices have showed that faba-beantillage management was more susceptible to seasonal rill erosion followed by Teff and wheat tillage surfaces under no cover condition. Surface roughness and landscape structures played a net decreasing effect on the parallel rill network development. This implies that spatial and temporal variability of the rill prone areas was strongly associated with the nature and initial size of surface micro-topography or tillage roughness. Thus, it is necessary to account land management practices, detail micro-topographic surfaces and landscape structures for improved prediction of rill prone areas under complex topographic conditions. Application of both direct rill cross section survey and close range digital photogrammetric techniques could enhance field erosion assessment for practical soil conservation improvement.     

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.     

土地利用变化对吴江市水田土壤有机碳储量的影响分析

 农业表层土壤碳库容易受人为强烈干扰,而又可以在较短的时间尺度上进行调节,当今我国经济发达地区土地利用变化必然会对土壤固碳产生重要影响。本研究以江苏省吴江市水稻土为例,利用新一代中分辨率成像光谱仪(MODIS)和TM/ETM影像提取了1984年稻田面积,以及这部分稻田在2000-2005年的土地利用变化状况。研究中以最大似然法对TM/ETM、MODIS影像应用归一化植被指数(NDVI)、增强型植被指数(EVI)和陆地水分指数(LSWI)掩膜的方法作了识别提取;同时,结合第二次全国土壤普查、2003年耕地地力调查点和吴江市农林局土肥指导站长期定位点的土壤有机碳数据估算了1984年和2000-2005年土壤碳库变化情况。结果表明:近20多年来尽管吴江市水稻土水耕熟化过程中有机碳总体呈增加的趋势,但由于大量稻田被非农用地所取代,导致土壤固碳能力大幅度下降,尤其从2001年开始从"碳汇"变成"碳源"。因此,在我国经济发达区应密切关注耕地转换成非农用地而导致的土壤有机碳的损失。     

Soil respiration under three different land use types in a tropical mountain region of China

Soil respiration (SR) Wis one of the largest contributors of terrestrial CO_2 to the atmosphere.Environmental as well as physicochemical parameters influence SR and thus, different land use practices impact the emissions of soil CO_2. In this study, we measured SR, bi-monthly, over a one-year period in a terrace tea plantation, a forest tea plantation and a secondary forest, in a subtropical mountain area in Xishuangbanna, China. Along with the measurement of SR rates, soil characteristics for each of the land use systems were investigated. Soil respiration rates in the different land use systems did not differ significantly during the dry season, ranging from2.7±0.2 μmol m~(-2) s~(-1) to 2.8±0.2 μmol m~(-2) s~(-1). During the wet season, however, SR rates were significantly larger in the terrace tea plantation(5.4±0.5 μmol m~(-2)s~(-1)) and secondary forest(4.9±0.4 μmol m~(-2)s~(-1)) than in the forest tea plantation(3.7±0.2 μmol m~(-2) s~(-1)).This resulted in significantly larger annual soil CO_2 emissions from the terrace tea and secondary forest,than from the forest tea plantation. It is likely that these differences in the SR rates are due to the 0.5times lower soil organic carbon concentrations in thetop mineral soil in the forest tea plantation, compared to the terrace tea plantation and secondary forest.Furthermore, we suggest that the lower sensitivity to temperature variation in the forest tea soil is a result of the lower soil organic carbon concentrations. The higher SR rates in the terrace tea plantation were partly due to weeding events, which caused CO_2 emission peaks that contributed almost 10% to the annual CO_2 flux. Our findings suggest that moving away from heavily managed tea plantations towards low-input forest tea can reduce the soil CO_2 emissions from these systems. However, our study is a casestudy and further investigations and upscaling are necessary to show if these findings hold true at a landscape level.     

Assessment of soil erosion by compensatory hoeing tillage in a purple soil

This study explores the role of a traditional tillage method,i.e.,compensatory hoeing,for sustainable agro-ecosystem management in the hilly areas of the Chongqing municipality,south-western China.To validate the effects of compensatory tillage on the terraced slopes,the tillage method of noncompensatory hoeing was conducted on a linear slope.To acquire information about 137 Cs inventories and soil texture,soil samples were collected by a core sampler with a 6.8-cm diameter at 5.0-m intervals along the toposequence and the linear slope in the dry season(March) of 2007.Meanwhile,a tillage erosion model was used for evaluating the spatial pattern of tillage erosion.The 137 Cs data showed that on the terraced slope,soil was lost from the upper slope,and soil deposition occurred at the toe slope positions on each terrace.As a result,abrupt changes in the 137 Cs inventories of soil were found over short distances between two sides of terrace boundaries.Results obtained from the tillage erosion model and the 137 Cs data indicate that soil redistribution mainly results from tillage erosion in the terraced landscape.Consecutive non-compensatory tillage caused soil redistribution on the linear slope,resulting in thin soil profile disappearing at the top and soil accumulating at the bottom positions of the linear slope.This result further validates that compensatory tillage could avoid the complete erosion of the thin soil layer at the summit position.Therefore,this traditional tillage.method,i.e.,compensatory tillage,has maintained the soil quality at the summit of the slope in the past decades.     

A Participatory GIS Approach to Identify Critical Land Degradation Areas and Prioritize Soil Conservation for Mountainous Olive Groves （Case Study）

Climate change scenarios predict an increase in the frequency of heavy rainfall events in some areas. This will increase runoff and soil erosion, and reduce agricultural productivity, particularly on vulnerable mountainous agricultural lands that is already exhibiting high rates of soil erosion. Haphazard implementation of soil and water conservation （SWC） interventions on scattered fields is inefficient in reducing soil erosion. The objective of this study was to identify areas at high risk of erosion to aid the design and implementation of sustainable SWC using GIS analysis and farmers＇ participation approach. A 25 m digital elevation model （DEM） was used to derive layers of flow accumulation, slope steepness and land curvature, which were used to derive an erosion-risk （priority） map for the whole watershed. Boundaries of farmers＇ fields were mapped and verified by the community and each field was classified into high, moderate or low erosion risk. Fields with low flow accumulation （top of hill） and/or steep slope and/or convex slope were assigned high erosion risk and therefore high implementation priority. The study showed that more than 54% of the fields were classified into high erosion risk areas. Accordingly, a community-watershed plan was established, revised and approved by the community.Incentive loans to implement SWC measures were distributed to 100 farmers based on the priorities of their fields. Judged by local farmers and using 16 randomly selected fields, 90% of the targeted areas were correctly identified using the erosion risk map. After two years, the conservation measures had led to marked improvement of soil conservation. The approach is simple and easy to comprehend by the community and provides scientific basis to prioritize the implementation of SWC and to target the most degraded areas, which amplify the impact of these in reducing the vulnerability to land degradation.     

Effectiveness of Soil Conservation Methods in Preventing Red Soil Erosion in Southern China

Rainfall, runoff(surface runoff and interflow) and soil loss were recorded from 2002 to2005 in an experiment with four treatments on sloping red soil land in southern China. Treatments consisted of bare sloping ground(control check, CK),interplanting with soybean in spring or radish in autumn(I), level terrace(i.e., grass planted on the riser and bunds built at the edge of a bench terrace)(II), and level terraces of orchards with Bahia grass planted on the riser(III). The surface runoff and erosion in treatment II and III during the four years were low despite the occurrence of potentially erosive rains. By contrast, the CK plot had both the highest surface runoff coefficient and the highest sediment yield among all the plots. The surface runoff and soil erosion of the CK plot significantly differed from that of the treatment plots(p 0.05). Additionally,Significant differences between the interflow of the CK plot and that of the treatment plots was found from April to August(p 0.05). However, no significant differences between the CK and treatment plots were found from January to March and September to December. The order of the plots in terms of surface runoff coefficients and soil losses was: CK I III II, whereas their order in terms of interflow was II III I CK. The effects of treatment II were excellent, indicating that level terrace(i.e., grass planted on the riser and bunds built at the edge of a bench terrace) can be an excellent practice for soil and water conservation on sloping red soil land. Soil loss in southern China can be reduced through the widespread use of this approach.     

Spatial variability and its main controlling factors of the permafrost soil-moisture on the northern-slope of Bayan Har Mountains in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

The soil moisture movement is an important carrier of material cycle and energy flow among the various geo-spheres in the cold regions. Thus, this research takes the north slope of Bayan Har Mountains in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau as a case study. The present study firstly investigates the change of permafrost moisture in different slope positions and depths. Based on this investigation, this article attempts to investigate the spatial variability of permafrost moisture and identifies the key influence factors in different terrain conditions. The method of classification and regression tree (CART) is adopted to identify the main controlling factors influencing the soil moisture movement. The relationships between soil moisture and environmental factors are revealed by the use of the method of canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). The results show that: 1) Due to the terrain slope and the freezing-thawing process, the horizontal flow weakens in the freezing period. The vertical migration of the soil moisture movement strengthens. It will lead to that the soil-moisture content in the up-slope is higher than that in the down-slope. The conclusion is contrary during the melting period. 2) Elevation, soil texture, soil temperature and vegetation coverage are the main environmental factors which affect the slope-permafrost soil-moisture. 3) Slope, elevation and vegetation coverage are the main factors that affect the slope-permafrost soil-moisture at the shallow depth of 0-20 cm. It is complex at the middle and lower depth.     

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.     

The effects of land uses on purplish soil erosion in hilly area of Sichuan Province,China

1 Introduction Food grain productivity of dry land per capitahas declined significantly during the past fewdecades (Parr et al. 1990). Bowman et al. (1990)and Blaikie (1985) indicated that the greatest lossin productivity comes from soil loss, withsecondary effects from loss of nutrients due toreduced organic matter and increased soil bulkdensity. Soil erosion has major ecological andeconomic consequences in densely populatedChina, particularly, in a large agriculture province,Sichuan…