Effects of vegetation restoration on soil organic carbon sequestration at multiple scales in semi-arid Loess Plateau, China

Wang, Ya-Feng; Fu, Bojie; Lü, Yihe; Chen, Liding

doi:10.1016/j.catena.2010.12.003

Cited by 186 publications

(97 citation statements)

References 56 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The soil samples were air dried and sieved through a two-mm mesh for soil carbon analysis. The SOC was determined using the dichromate oxidation method known as the Walkley-Black procedure (Wang et al 2011b;Fallahzade and Hajabbasi 2012). Beyond the soil data obtained through field sampling and laboratory analyses, the local secondary national soil survey data of the study area were acquired; this survey was completed in 1981 and 1982 Wang et al 2013a).…”

Section: Soil Carbon Storage and Water Consumptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Land Use Change on Soil Carbon Storage and Water Consumption in an Oasis-Desert Ecotone

Lü

Zhao

et al. 2014

Environmental Management

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Land use and ecosystem services need to be assessed simultaneously to better understand the relevant factors in sustainable land management. This paper analyzed land use changes in the middle reach of the arid Heihe River Basin in northwest China over the last two decades and their impacts on water resources and soil organic carbon (SOC) storage. The results indicated that from 1986 to 2007: (1) cropland and human settlements expanded by 45.0 and 17.6 %, respectively, at the expense of 70.1, 35.7, and 4.1 % shrinkage on woodland, grassland, and semi-shrubby desert; (2) irrigation water use was dominant and increased (with fluctuations) at an average rate of 8.2 %, while basic human water consumption increased monotonically over a longer period from 1981 to 2011 at a rate of 58 %; and (3) cropland expansion or continuous cultivation led to a significant reduction of SOC, while the land use transition from grassland to semishrubby desert and the progressive succession of natural ecosystems such as semi-shrubby desert and grassland, in contrast, can bring about significant carbon sequestration benefits. The increased water consumption and decreased SOC pool associated with some observed land use changes may induce and aggravate potential ecological risks for both local and downstream ecosystems, including water resource shortages, soil quality declines, and degeneration of natural vegetation. Therefore, it is necessary to balance socioeconomic wellbeing and ecosystem services in land use planning and management for the sustainability of socio-ecological systems across spatiotemporal scales, especially in resource-poor arid environments.

show abstract

Section: Soil Carbon Storage and Water Consumptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Land Use Change on Soil Carbon Storage and Water Consumption in an Oasis-Desert Ecotone

Lü

Zhao

et al. 2014

Environmental Management

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This paper is mainly focused on the response of regulating services to vegetation restoration, which has not been fully understood in current research [25][26][27][28]57]. The responses of WY change and NPP change to NDVI change at the pixel level were calculated using linear regression analysis.…”

Section: Response Relationshipsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Response of regulating services to vegetation change is an important topic with the GFG project proceeding, but it has not been fully understood in current research [25][26][27][28]57]. At the pixel scale in our site, response relationships between regulating services (WY and NPP) and NDVI were analyzed and identified for the period from 2000-2013 (Figure 7).…”

Section: Response Of Es Change To Vegetation Changementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Extensive croplands have been converted into woodlands, and natural vegetation has been restored in the NSLP, which has had a dramatic impact on ES. Current research shows that ES significantly changed in the Loess Plateau after GFG [3,27,28]. However, the processes and main drivers of different ES changes during the whole GFG period in the NSLP still need to be further elucidated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Ecosystem Services and Ecological Restoration in the Northern Shaanxi Loess Plateau, China, in Relation to Climate Fluctuation and Investments in Natural Capital

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Accurately identifying the spatiotemporal variations and driving factors of ecosystem services (ES) in ecological restoration is important for ecosystem management and the sustainability of nature conservation strategies. As the Green for Grain project proceeds, food provision, water regulation and climate regulation services in the Northern Shaanxi Loess Plateau (NSLP) are changing and have caused broad attention. In this study, the dynamic pattern of the normalized differential vegetation index (NDVI) and the main drivers of grain production (GP), water yield (WY) and net primary production (NPP) in the NSLP from 2000-2013 are identified by incorporating multiple data and methods, in order to provide a better understanding of how and why ES change during ecological restoration. WY was simulated by hydrological modeling, and NPP was estimated with the Carnegie Ames Stanford Approach (CASA) model. The results show that vegetation restoration continued from 2000-2013, but fluctuated because of the comprehensive influence of climate and human activity. GP and NPP both exhibited significantly increasing trends, while changes in WY occurred in two stages: decline (2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006) and growth (2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013). Spatially, significantly increasing trends in NPP and WY were detected in 52.73% and 24.76% of the region, respectively, in areas that correspond with the Green for Grain project and high precipitation growth. Correlation and partial correlation analyses show that there were different dominant factors (i.e., natural vs. anthropogenic) driving ES change in the NSLP from 2000-2013. The change in WY was mainly driven by precipitation, while the improvements in GP and NPP can be attributed to investments in natural capital (i.e., chemical fertilizer, agricultural machinery power and afforestation). We also found that vegetation restoration can produce positive effects on NPP, but negative effects on WY by using response analyses of WY or NPP change to NDVI change, demonstrating that additional research on the role of water in vegetation restoration is needed. Our results provide support for ES management and the sustainable development of ecological restoration in the NSLP.

show abstract

“…The "Grain for Green" program has reduced wind and water erosion of marginal arable land and is expected to significantly contribute to soil C sequestration. Recent studies on the Loess Plateau have investigated and estimated the changes in SOC stocks in the top 1 m of soil as a result of revegetation of regional watersheds (Fu et al, 2010;Wang et al, 2011;Yan et al, 2007;Zhang et al, 2013). However, deep-rooted perennial legumes may penetrate deeper in the soil profile than 1 m, likely underestimating the SOCsequestration potential of these forage legumes in northwest China (Smith et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil carbon sequestration by three perennial legume pastures is greater in deeper soil layers than in the surface soil

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Soil organic carbon (SOC) plays a vital role as both a sink for and source of atmospheric carbon. Revegetation of degraded arable land in China is expected to increase soil carbon sequestration, but the role of perennial legumes on soil carbon stocks in semiarid areas has not been quantified. In this study, we assessed the effect of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) and two locally adapted forage legumes, bush clover (Lespedeza davurica S.) and milk vetch (Astragalus adsurgens Pall.) on the SOC concentration and SOC stock accumulated annually over a 2 m soil profile. The results showed that the concentration of SOC in the bare soil decreased slightly over the 7 years, while 7 years of legume growth substantially increased the concentration of SOC over the 0-2.0 m soil depth. Over the 7-year growth period the SOC stocks increased by 24.1, 19.9 and 14.6 Mg C ha −1 under the alfalfa, bush clover and milk vetch stands, respectively, and decreased by 4.2 Mg C ha −1 in the bare soil. The sequestration of SOC in the 1-2 m depth of the soil accounted for 79, 68 and 74 % of the SOC sequestered in the 2 m deep soil profile under alfalfa, bush clover and milk vetch, respectively. Conversion of arable land to perennial legume pasture resulted in a significant increase in SOC, particularly at soil depths below 1 m.

show abstract

Effects of vegetation restoration on soil organic carbon sequestration at multiple scales in semi-arid Loess Plateau, China

Cited by 186 publications

References 56 publications

Effects of Land Use Change on Soil Carbon Storage and Water Consumption in an Oasis-Desert Ecotone

Effects of Land Use Change on Soil Carbon Storage and Water Consumption in an Oasis-Desert Ecotone

Ecosystem Services and Ecological Restoration in the Northern Shaanxi Loess Plateau, China, in Relation to Climate Fluctuation and Investments in Natural Capital

Soil carbon sequestration by three perennial legume pastures is greater in deeper soil layers than in the surface soil

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About