Significant loss of soil inorganic carbon at the continental scale

Xiao-Dong Song; Fei Yang; Hua-Yong Wu; Jing Zhang; De-Cheng Li; Feng Liu; Yu-Guo Zhao; Jin-Ling Yang; Bing Ju; Chong-Fa Cai; Biao Huang; Huai-Yu Long; Ying Lu; Yue-Yu Sui; Qiu-Bing Wang; Ke-Ning Wu; Feng-Rong Zhang; Ming-Kui Zhang; Zhou Shi; Wan-Zhu Ma; Gang Xin; Zhi-Ping Qi; Qing-Rui Chang; En Ci; Da-Gang Yuan; Yang-Zhu Zhang; Jun-Ping Bai; Jia-Ying Chen; Jie Chen; Yin-Jun Chen; Yun-Zhong Dong; Chun-Lan Han; Ling Li; Li-Ming Liu; Jian-Jun Pan; Fu-Peng Song; Fu-Jun Sun; Deng-Feng Wang; Tian-Wei Wang; Xiang-Hua Wei; Hong-Qi Wu; Xia Zhao; Qing Zhou; Gan-Lin Zhang

doi:10.1093/nsr/nwab120

Significant loss of soil inorganic carbon at the continental scale

Natl Sci Rev. 2021 Jul 2;9(2):nwab120. doi: 10.1093/nsr/nwab120. eCollection 2022 Feb.

Authors

Xiao-Dong Song¹, Fei Yang¹, Hua-Yong Wu¹, Jing Zhang¹, De-Cheng Li¹, Feng Liu¹, Yu-Guo Zhao¹, Jin-Ling Yang¹, Bing Ju¹, Chong-Fa Cai², Biao Huang¹, Huai-Yu Long³, Ying Lu⁴, Yue-Yu Sui⁵, Qiu-Bing Wang⁶, Ke-Ning Wu⁷, Feng-Rong Zhang⁸, Ming-Kui Zhang⁹, Zhou Shi⁹, Wan-Zhu Ma¹⁰, Gang Xin¹¹, Zhi-Ping Qi¹², Qing-Rui Chang¹³, En Ci¹⁴, Da-Gang Yuan¹⁵, Yang-Zhu Zhang¹⁶, Jun-Ping Bai¹⁷, Jia-Ying Chen², Jie Chen¹⁸, Yin-Jun Chen³, Yun-Zhong Dong¹⁹, Chun-Lan Han⁶, Ling Li²⁰, Li-Ming Liu²¹, Jian-Jun Pan²², Fu-Peng Song²³, Fu-Jun Sun⁶, Deng-Feng Wang¹², Tian-Wei Wang², Xiang-Hua Wei²⁴, Hong-Qi Wu²⁵, Xia Zhao²⁶, Qing Zhou¹⁶, Gan-Lin Zhang¹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China.
² College of Resources and Environment, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
³ Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China.
⁴ College of Natural Resources and Environment, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China.
⁵ Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Harbin 150081, China.
⁶ College of Land and Environment, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang 110161, China.
⁷ School of Land Science and Technology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China.
⁸ College of Land Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
⁹ College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
¹⁰ Institute of Digital Agriculture, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China.
¹¹ College of Agriculture, Heilongjiang Bayi Agricultural University, Daqing 163319, China.
¹² Tropical Crops Genetic Resources Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Haikou 571101, China.
¹³ College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A & F University, Yangling 712100, China.
¹⁴ College of Resources and Environment, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.
¹⁵ College of Resources, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China.
¹⁶ College of Resources and Environment, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China.
¹⁷ Institute of Agricultural Product Quality Standard and Testing Research, Tibet Academy of Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Sciences, Lhasa 850032, China.
¹⁸ School of Agricultural Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China.
¹⁹ Institute of Agriculture Environment and Resources Research, Shanxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Taiyuan 030006, China.
²⁰ College of Resources and Environment, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China.
²¹ College of Resources and Environment, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
²² College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China.
²³ College of Resources and Environment, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian 271018, China.
²⁴ Agricultural College, Guangxi University, Nanning 530005, China.
²⁵ College of Grassland and Environment Science, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, China.
²⁶ College of Geographical Science, Qinghai Normal University, Xining 810008, China.

Abstract

Widespread soil acidification due to atmospheric acid deposition and agricultural fertilization may greatly accelerate soil carbonate dissolution and CO₂ release. However, to date, few studies have addressed these processes. Here, we use meta-analysis and nationwide-survey datasets to investigate changes in soil inorganic carbon (SIC) stocks in China. We observe an overall decrease in SIC stocks in topsoil (0-30 cm) (11.33 g C m^-2 yr^-1) from the 1980s to the 2010s. Total SIC stocks have decreased by ∼8.99 ± 2.24% (1.37 ± 0.37 Pg C). The average SIC losses across China (0.046 Pg C yr^-1) and in cropland (0.016 Pg C yr^-1) account for ∼17.6%-24.0% of the terrestrial C sink and 57.1% of the soil organic carbon sink in cropland, respectively. Nitrogen deposition and climate change have profound influences on SIC cycling. We estimate that ∼19.12%-19.47% of SIC stocks will be further lost by 2100. The consumption of SIC may offset a large portion of global efforts aimed at ecosystem carbon sequestration, which emphasizes the importance of achieving a better understanding of the indirect coupling mechanisms of nitrogen and carbon cycling and of effective countermeasures to minimize SIC loss.

Keywords: China; carbonate; global change; soil acidification; soil inorganic carbon stocks.