Effects of a conversion from grassland to cropland on the different soil organic carbon fractions in Inner Mongolia, China

Qi, Yu; Dong, Yu; Peng, Qunjia; Xiao, Suguang; He, Yongtao; Liu, Xinchao; Sun, Ling; Jia, Junqiang; Yang, Zhijie

doi:10.1007/s11442-012-0929-y

Cited by 26 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Secondly, cropland upper soil carbon is easily taken away by the wind, especially during spring, due to surface bareness. Our result is in good agreement with a previous study conducted in the Xilin River Basin of Inner Mongolia that reported the stored total organic carbon in the uppermost 30 cm soil layer was greater in the grassland than in the cropland (Qi et al, 2012).…”

Section: Comparison Of Soc Stocks Among Land Use Typessupporting

confidence: 93%

Impact of land use conversion on soil organic carbon stocks in an agro-pastoral ecotone of Inner Mongolia

Zhao

et al. 2017

J. Geogr. Sci.

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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.

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Section: Comparison Of Soc Stocks Among Land Use Typessupporting

confidence: 93%

Impact of land use conversion on soil organic carbon stocks in an agro-pastoral ecotone of Inner Mongolia

Zhao

et al. 2017

J. Geogr. Sci.

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“…The belowground biomass of the spring wheat field decreased by 98%, which mainly accounts for the loss of SOC under cultivation treatment. Additionally, the amount of SOC stock was also decided by the balance between the decomposition of SOC and the input of organic carbon to the soil from the plant residues or litter [14]. In this study, with plant biomass being harvested or removed, the total nitrogen content of the soil significantly declined, leading to a lower C:N ratio at both soil depths under grazing and cultivation treatments.…”

Section: Effects Of Grazing and Cultivation On Soc Stockmentioning

confidence: 84%

“…The Xilin River Basin is the major base of livestock husbandry in China. There was practically no human activity in this region before the 1950s, and the first extensive cultivation started in 1953 [14]. Meanwhile, the grazing intensity was at a very low level until the grasslands were thrown open to private use in 1978.…”

Section: The Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Differential Responses of Soil Microbial Community to Four-Decade Long Grazing and Cultivation in a Semi-Arid Grassland

et al. 2017

Sustainability

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Grazing and cultivation are two important management practices worldwide that can cause significant soil organic carbon (SOC) losses. However, it remains elusive how soil microbes have responded to soil carbon changes under these two practices. Based on a four-decade long field experiment, this study investigated the effects of grazing and cultivation on SOC stocks and microbial properties in the semi-arid grasslands of China. We hypothesize that grazing and cultivation would deplete SOC and depress microbial activities under both practices. However, our hypotheses were only partially supported. As compared with the adjacent indigenous grasslands, SOC and microbial biomass carbon (MBC) were decreased by 20% or more under grazing and cultivation, which is consistent with the reduction of fungi abundance by 40% and 71%, respectively. The abundance of bacteria and actinomycetes was decreased under grazing but increased under cultivation, which likely enhanced microbial diversity in cultivation. Invertase activity decreased under the two treatments, while urease activity increased under grazing. These results suggest that nitrogen fertilizer input during cultivation may preferentially favor bacterial growth, in spite of SOC loss, due to rapid decomposition, while overgrazing may deteriorate the nitrogen supply to belowground microbes, thus stimulating the microbial production of nitrogen acquisition enzymes. This decade-long study demonstrated differential soil microbial responses under grazing and cultivation and has important applications for better management practices in the grassland ecosystem.

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“…Additionally, as revealed in this study, agricultural intensification and expansion occurred in some parts of IM since the early 2000s. Although they could contribute to improving AGB locally, some previous studies have demonstrated that reclamation for cultivation in arid and semi-arid environments could potentially lead to land degradation through degrading soil properties [69,70] and lowering groundwater levels [71]. Therefore, this issue should also be sufficiently emphasized and properly addressed in the future.…”

Section: Implications For Regional Sustainabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Relative Importance of Climatic and Anthropogenic Drivers on the Dynamics of Aboveground Biomass across Agro-Ecological Zones on the Mongolian Plateau

Zhou

Yamaguchi

2018

Sustainability

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The dynamics of aboveground biomass (AGB) are driven by both climate variation and anthropogenic modification, however, few studies have evaluated the relative importance of these two drivers, especially in a heterogeneous landscape. Taking the Mongolian Plateau as a case study and employing the vegetation optical depth retrieval as a proxy of AGB, this study aimed to determine the relative importance of climatic and anthropogenic drivers on the dynamics of AGB in Mongolia (ML) and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (IM), China. Spatial panel data model specific to each agro-ecological zone was employed to fulfill the task. The results revealed that: (1) Since the socio-institutional transition in the early 1990s, AGB declined in most parts of the grazing zone of Mongolia. The reduction of precipitation, the rise of temperature and the intensification of livestock grazing were the major drivers behind it. Ranked by their relative importance, the order in the grazing zone with relatively humid climate was: Precipitation ≈ temperature > livestock grazing; the order in the grazing zone with relatively arid climate was: Precipitation > temperature > livestock grazing; (2) Since the implementation of a series of ecological restoration programs in the early 2000s, AGB increased in most parts of the grazing zone of IM, and the increase of precipitation was the dominant driver behind it; (3) Since the early 2000s, AGB increased in most parts of the grazing-farming zone of IM. The increase of precipitation, the decline of temperature and the intensification of grain production were the major drivers behind it. Ranked by their relative importance, the order was: Precipitation > grain production > temperature; (4) Since the early 2000s, AGB increased in most parts of the farming zone of IM. The increase of precipitation and the intensification of grain production were the major drivers behind it. Ranked by their relative importance, the order was: Grain production > precipitation.

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Effects of a conversion from grassland to cropland on the different soil organic carbon fractions in Inner Mongolia, China

Cited by 26 publications

References 37 publications

Impact of land use conversion on soil organic carbon stocks in an agro-pastoral ecotone of Inner Mongolia

Impact of land use conversion on soil organic carbon stocks in an agro-pastoral ecotone of Inner Mongolia

Differential Responses of Soil Microbial Community to Four-Decade Long Grazing and Cultivation in a Semi-Arid Grassland

Relative Importance of Climatic and Anthropogenic Drivers on the Dynamics of Aboveground Biomass across Agro-Ecological Zones on the Mongolian Plateau

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