Evolvement rules of basin flood risk under low-carbon mode. Part I: response of soil organic carbon to land use change and its influence on land use planning in the Haihe basin

Environ Monit Assess. 2017 Aug;189(8):377. doi: 10.1007/s10661-017-6101-5. Epub 2017 Jul 5.

Abstract

Soil organic carbon (SOC) plays an important role in the global carbon cycle. The aim of this study was to evaluate the response of SOC to land use change and its influence on land use planning in the Haihe basin, and provide planning land use pattern for basin flood risk assessment. Firstly, the areas of different land use types in 1980, 2008, and the planning year (2020) were counted by area statistics function of ArcGIS. Then, the transfer matrixes of land use were produced by spatial overlay analysis function. Lastly, based on the land use maps, soil type map and soil profile database, SOC storage of different land use types in three different periods were calculated. The results showed the patterns of land use have changed a lot from 1980 to 2008, among the 19,835 km2 of grassland was transformed into forestland, which was the largest conversion landscape. And land use conversion brought the SOC storage changes. Total carbon source was 88.83 Tg, and total carbon sink was 85.49 Tg. So, the Haihe basin presented as a carbon source from 1980 to 2008. From 2008 to 2020, the changes of forestland and grassland are the biggest in Haihe basin, which cause the SOC pool change from a carbon source to a carbon sink. SOC storage will increase from 2420.5 Tg in 2008 to 2495.5 Tg in 2020. The changing trend is conducive to reducing atmospheric concentrations. Therefore, land use planning in Haihe basin is reasonable and can provide the underlying surface condition for flood risk assessment.

Keywords: Carbon source and sink; Land use change; Land use planning; Soil organic carbon storage.

MeSH terms

  • Carbon / analysis*
  • Carbon Cycle
  • Carbon Sequestration
  • China
  • Environmental Monitoring / methods*
  • Floods / statistics & numerical data*
  • Forests
  • Grassland
  • Soil / chemistry*
  • Spatial Analysis

Substances

  • Soil
  • Carbon