Spatial variability of soil organic carbon in a typical watershed in the source area of the middle Dan River, China
Guo-Ce Xu A B E , Zhan-Bin Li A B C E , Peng Li C , Ke-Xin Lu C and Yun Wang DA State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dry-land Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, PR China.
B Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100039, PR China.
C Key Laboratory of Northwest Water Resources and Environment Ecology of Ministry of Education, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’ an, Shaanxi 710048, PR China.
D College of Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, PR China.
E Corresponding authors. Emails: xuguoce_x@163.com; zbli@xaut.edu.cn
Soil Research 51(1) 41-49 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR12327
Submitted: 9 November 2012 Accepted: 14 January 2013 Published: 1 March 2013
Abstract
Soil organic carbon (SOC) plays an important role in maintaining and improving soil fertility and quality, in addition to mitigating climate change. Understanding SOC spatial variability is fundamental for describing soil resources and predicting SOC. In this study, SOC content and SOC mass were estimated based on a soil survey of a small watershed in the Dan River, China. The spatial heterogeneity of SOC distribution and the impacts of land-use types, elevation, slope, and aspect on SOC were also assessed. Field sampling was carried out based on a 100 m by 100 m grid system overlaid on the topographic map of the study area, and samples were collected in three soil layers to a depth of 40 cm. In total, 222 sites were sampled and 629 soil samples were collected. The results showed that classical kriging could successfully interpolate SOC content in the watershed. Contents of SOC showed strong spatial heterogeneity based on the values of the coefficient of variation and the nugget ratio, and this was attributed largely to the type of land use. The range of the semi-variograms increased with increasing soil depth. The SOC content in the soil profile decreased as soil depth increased, and there were significant (P < 0.01) differences among the three soil layers. Land use had a great impact on the SOC content. ANOVA indicated that the spatial variation of SOC contents under different land use types was significant (P < 0.05). The SOC mass of different land-use types followed the order grassland > forestland > cropland. Mean SOC masses of grassland, forestland, and cropland at a depth of 0–40 cm were 5.87, 5.61, and 5.07 kg m–2, respectively. The spatial variation of SOC masses under different land-use types was significant (P < 0.05). ANOVA also showed significant (P < 0.05) impact of aspect on SOC mass in soil at 0–40 cm. Soil bulk density played an important role in the assessment of SOC mass. In conclusion, carbon in soils in the source area of the middle Dan River would increase with conversion from agricultural land to forest or grassland.
Additional keywords: Dan River, geostatistics, land use, soil organic carbon, spatial variability.
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