Effects of temperature and grazing on soil organic carbon storage in grasslands along the Eurasian steppe eastern transect

Abstract

Soil represents the largest terrestrial organic carbon pool. To address global climate change, it is essential to explore the soil organic carbon storage patterns and their controlling factors. We investigated the soil organic carbon density (SOCD) in 48 grassland sites along the Eurasian steppe eastern transect (ESET) region, which covers the Inner Mongolia grassland subregion and Mongolia grasslands subregion. Specifically, we analyzed the SOCD in the top 30 cm soil layer and its relationships with climatic variables, soil texture, grazing intensity and community biomass productivity. The results showed that the average SOCD of the ESET was 4.74 kg/m2, and the SOCD of the Inner Mongolia grassland subregion (4.11 kg/m2) was significantly lower than that of the Mongolia grassland subregion (5.79 kg/m2). Significant negative relationships were found between the SOCD and the mean annual temperature (MAT), mean annual precipitation (MAP) and grazing intensity in the ESET region. The MAT and grazing intensity were identified as the major factors influencing the SOCD in the ESET region; the MAP and MAT were the major factors influencing the SOCD in the Inner Mongolia grassland subregion; and the MAT and soil pH were the major factors influencing the SOCD in the Mongolia grassland subregion.

Aboveground biomass allometric equations and distribution of carbon stocks of the African oak (Afzelia africana Sm.) in Burkina Faso

“…These variations with climatic gradient, although not statistically significant, could imply that climate influences carbon storage. Similar findings were reported previously (Schippers et al 2015;Zhao et al 2017) and demonstrated that carbon storage was strongly correlated with mean annual temperature and mean annual precipitation. In fact, high temperatures in tropical forests induce higher evapotranspiration and water stress, reducing therefore photosynthesis, tree growth, biomass production (Schippers et al 2015) and carbon sequestration.…”

Land-Use Effect on Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Stock in a Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest

“…We believe that this increase in TOC content is due to the grass root system [30], the decomposition of residue, and the presence of root exudates. Organic carbon entering the soil in areas of pasture is due mainly to the decomposition of litter on the surface (0-10 cm) and of the underground roots (20-30 cm) [31].…”

Interactions between biogeochemical and management factors explain soil organic carbon in Pyrenean grasslands

“…Despite the need for precise knowledge on the effects of different land uses on ecosystems for climate change mitigation (Lo et al, 2015), studies addressing grazer-type effects on SOC are scarce (i.e. Zhou et al, 2017;Chang et al, 2018). Considering our results, we suggest conducting more experiments which investigate grazer-type effects on SOC under different soil nutrient conditions and within plant communities with contrasting herbage quality parameters.…”

“…It is known that herbivores can affect SOC through different paths, such as regulating the quantity and quality of organic matter returned to soil (Bardgett and Wardle, 2003) or affecting soil respiration and nutrients by animal trampling or soil microbiota alteration (Lu et al, 2017). Several studies confirmed the interaction between grazing and other SOC drivers at diverse scales (Abdalla et al, 2018;Eze et al, 2018;Lu et al, , 2017Zhou et al, 2017). Hence, grazing management may be considered a SOC driver with effects at multiple levels of the driver hierarchy ( Fig.…”