Spatial pattern of soil organic carbon and total nitrogen, and analysis of related factors in an agro-pastoral zone in Northern China

PLoS One. 2018 May 17;13(5):e0197451. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0197451. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

The spatial pattern of soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) densities plays a profound important role in estimating carbon and nitrogen budgets. Naiman Banner located in northern China was chosen as research site, a total of 332 soil samples were taken in a depth of 100 cm from the low hilly land in the southern part, sandy land in the middle part and an alluvial plain in the northern part of the county. The results showed that SOC and TN density initially decreased and then increased from the north to the south, The highest densities, were generally in the south, with the lowest generally in the middle part. The SOC and TN densities in cropland were significantly greater than those in woodland and grassland in the alluvial plains and for Naiman as a whole. The woodland SOC and TN density were higher than those of grassland in the low hilly land, and higher densities of SOC and TN in grassland than woodland in the sandy land and low hilly land. There were significant differences in SOC and TN densities among the five soil types of Cambisols, Arenosols, Gleysols, Argosols, and Kastanozems. In addition, SOC and TN contents generally decreased with increasing soil depth, but increased below a depth of 40 cm in the Cambisols and became roughly constant at this depth in the Kastanozems. There is considerable potential to sequester carbon and nitrogen in the soil via the conversion of degraded sandy land into woodland and grassland in alluvial plain, and more grassland should be established in sandy land and low hilly land.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Carbon / analysis*
  • China
  • Forests
  • Grassland
  • Nitrogen / analysis*
  • Soil / chemistry*

Substances

  • Soil
  • Carbon
  • Nitrogen

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFC0500901), One Hundred Person Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Y551821), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grants 31640012, 31560161, and 31260089). All co-authors assisted with manuscript writing. Xuyang Wang, Yuqiang Li and Yinping Chen conceived and designed the experiment, and wrote this paper. Jie Lian and Yongqing Luo were responsible for the field investigation, Yayi Niu and Xiangwen Gong were responsible for the soil sampling, and laboratory analyses.