Estimation of soil organic carbon reservoir in China

1 IntroductionResearch on global change has aroused many scientists' attention to the balance, storage and spatial distribution of carbon in the terrestrial ecosystem. The carbon stored in soil is 2.5-3 times as much as that stored in plants1,2], so the distribution and conversion of carbon in humus has become one of the global research foci on organic carbon at present3]. Organic carbon and nitrogen contents in soils are not only important components of soils but also the most important eco…

Estimation of soil organic carbon reservoir in China

The paper respectively adopted physio-chemical properties of every soil stratum from 2473 soil profiles of the second national soil survey. The corresponding carbon content of soils is estimated by utilizing conversion coefficient 0.58. In the second soil survey, the total amount of soil organic carbon is about 924.18xl0⁸t and carbon density is about 10.53 kgC/m² in China according to the area of 877.63x10⁶hm² surveyed throughout the country. The spatial distribution characteristics of soil organic carbon in China is that the carbon storage increases when latitude increases in eastern China and the carbon storage decreases when longitude reduces in northern China. A transitional zone with great variation in carbon storage exists. Moreover, there is an increasing tendency of carbon density with decrease of latitude in western China. Soil circle is of great significance to global change, but with substantial difference in soil spatial distribution throughout the country. Because the structure of soil is inhomogeneous, it could bring some mistakes in estimating soil carbon reservoirs. It is necessary to farther resolve soil respiration and organic matter conversion and other questions by developing uniform and normal methods of measurement and sampling.