Effect of Time since Afforestation on Soil Organic Carbon Stock and Turnover Rate

Xiaohe Zhou, Jia Li, Yunfei Zhao, Silong Jiang, Huiying Liu and Xia Wang ()
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Xiaohe Zhou: Gansu Key Laboratory for Environmental Pollution Prediction and Control, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
Jia Li: Gansu Key Laboratory for Environmental Pollution Prediction and Control, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
Yunfei Zhao: Gansu Key Laboratory for Environmental Pollution Prediction and Control, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
Silong Jiang: Gansu Key Laboratory for Environmental Pollution Prediction and Control, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
Huiying Liu: Gansu Key Laboratory for Environmental Pollution Prediction and Control, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
Xia Wang: Gansu Key Laboratory for Environmental Pollution Prediction and Control, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 16, 1-14

Abstract: Forests can accumulate large quantities of SOC, but the trend in SOC accumulation with increasing stand age is inconclusive. In this study, we selected five plots in northwestern China: four stands of artificially planted Robinia pseudoacacia of different ages (5, 20, 40, and 56 years old), and a plot of wasteland as the control. The results showed that the SOC contents decreased, whereas δ 13 C values increased, with soil depth. The soil total nitrogen (TN) content and the carbon/phosphorus (C/P) ratio increased significantly with increasing stand age. The SOC storage in the 0–30 cm soil layer did not differ significantly among stands of different ages. However, SOC storage in the 0–100 and 30–100 cm soil layers was significantly higher in the 40- and 56-year-old stands than in 5-year-old stands. The SOC turnover rate decreased gradually over the 40 years after planting and then rapidly increased between 40 and 56 years after planting. The SOC stocks were most strongly correlated with TN and the C/P ratio, and SOC turnover was most closely related to soil porosity. Afforestation significantly improved soil properties to enhance SOC sequestration, but it took a long time for stored SOC to accumulate in this study area.

Keywords: soil organic carbon; stable carbon isotope; vegetation restoration; redundancy analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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