Land Cover Change and Soil Carbon Regulating Ecosystem Services in the State of South Carolina, USA
Integration of land cover change with soil information is important for valuation of soil carbon (C) regulating ecosystem services (ES) and disservices (ED) and for site-specific land management. The objective of this study was to assess the change in value of regulating ES from soil organic carbon...
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MDPI AG
2021-09-01
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| Series: | Earth |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4834/2/4/40 |
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| author | Elena A. Mikhailova Lili Lin Zhenbang Hao Hamdi A. Zurqani Christopher J. Post Mark A. Schlautman Gregory C. Post |
| author_facet | Elena A. Mikhailova Lili Lin Zhenbang Hao Hamdi A. Zurqani Christopher J. Post Mark A. Schlautman Gregory C. Post |
| author_sort | Elena A. Mikhailova |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Integration of land cover change with soil information is important for valuation of soil carbon (C) regulating ecosystem services (ES) and disservices (ED) and for site-specific land management. The objective of this study was to assess the change in value of regulating ES from soil organic carbon (SOC), soil inorganic carbon (SIC), and total soil carbon (TSC) stocks, based on the concept of the avoided social cost of carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) emissions for the state of South Carolina (SC) in the United States of America (U.S.A.) by soil order (Soil Taxonomy), land cover, and land cover change (National Land Cover Database, NLCD) using information from the State Soil Geographic (STATSGO) and Soil Survey Geographic Database (SSURGO) databases. Classified land cover data for 2001 and 2016 were downloaded from the Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics Consortium (MRLC) website. The total estimated monetary mid-point value for TSC in the state of South Carolina was $124.42B (i.e., $124.42 billion U.S. dollars, where B = billion = 10<sup>9</sup>) with the following monetary distribution in 2016 and percent change in value between 2001 and 2016: barren land ($259.7M, −9%) (i.e., $259.7 million U.S. dollars, where M = million = 10<sup>6</sup>), woody wetlands ($33.8B, −1%), shrub/scrub ($3.9B, +9%), mixed forest ($6.9B, +5%), deciduous forest ($10.6B, −7%), herbaceous ($4.8B, −5%), evergreen forest ($28.6B, +1%), emergent herbaceous wetlands ($6.9B, −3%), hay/pasture ($7.3B, −10%), cultivated crops ($9.9B, 0%), developed, open space ($7.0B, +5%), developed, medium intensity ($978M, +46%), developed, low intensity ($2.9B, +15%), and developed, high intensity ($318M, +39%). The percent change in monetary values was different from percent change in areas because different soil orders have different TSC contents. The percent changes (between 2001 and 2016) both in areas and monetary values varied by soil order and land cover with $1.1B in likely “realized” social cost of C mostly associated with Ultisols ($658.8M). The Midlands region of the state experienced the highest gains in the “high disturbance” classes and corresponding SC-CO<sub>2</sub> with over $421M for TSC, $354.6M for SOC, and $66.4M for SIC. Among counties, Horry County ranked first with over $142.2M in SC-CO<sub>2</sub> for TSC, followed by Lexington ($103.7M), Richland ($95.3M), Greenville ($81.4M), York ($77.5M), Charleston ($70.7M), Beaufort ($64.1M), Berkeley ($50.9M), Spartanburg ($50.0M), and Aiken ($43.0M) counties. Spatial and temporal analyses of land cover can identify critical locations of soil carbon regulating ecosystem services at risk. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T04:16:35Z |
| format | Article |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2673-4834 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T04:16:35Z |
| publishDate | 2021-09-01 |
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| record_format | Article |
| series | Earth |
| spelling | doaj.art-01da3069cb6a4d40a99714ecb4fb19d02023-11-23T07:57:50ZengMDPI AGEarth2673-48342021-09-012467469510.3390/earth2040040Land Cover Change and Soil Carbon Regulating Ecosystem Services in the State of South Carolina, USAElena A. Mikhailova0Lili Lin1Zhenbang Hao2Hamdi A. Zurqani3Christopher J. Post4Mark A. Schlautman5Gregory C. Post6Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USAUniversity Key Lab for Geomatics Technology and Optimized Resources Utilization, No. 15 Shangxiadian Road, Fuzhou 350002, ChinaUniversity Key Lab for Geomatics Technology and Optimized Resources Utilization, No. 15 Shangxiadian Road, Fuzhou 350002, ChinaCollege of Forestry, Agriculture, and Natural Resources, University of Arkansas at Monticello, Monticello, AR 71655, USADepartment of Forestry and Environmental Conservation, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USADepartment of Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, Clemson University, Anderson, SC 29625, USAGeography Department, Portland State University, Portland, OR 97202, USAIntegration of land cover change with soil information is important for valuation of soil carbon (C) regulating ecosystem services (ES) and disservices (ED) and for site-specific land management. The objective of this study was to assess the change in value of regulating ES from soil organic carbon (SOC), soil inorganic carbon (SIC), and total soil carbon (TSC) stocks, based on the concept of the avoided social cost of carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) emissions for the state of South Carolina (SC) in the United States of America (U.S.A.) by soil order (Soil Taxonomy), land cover, and land cover change (National Land Cover Database, NLCD) using information from the State Soil Geographic (STATSGO) and Soil Survey Geographic Database (SSURGO) databases. Classified land cover data for 2001 and 2016 were downloaded from the Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics Consortium (MRLC) website. The total estimated monetary mid-point value for TSC in the state of South Carolina was $124.42B (i.e., $124.42 billion U.S. dollars, where B = billion = 10<sup>9</sup>) with the following monetary distribution in 2016 and percent change in value between 2001 and 2016: barren land ($259.7M, −9%) (i.e., $259.7 million U.S. dollars, where M = million = 10<sup>6</sup>), woody wetlands ($33.8B, −1%), shrub/scrub ($3.9B, +9%), mixed forest ($6.9B, +5%), deciduous forest ($10.6B, −7%), herbaceous ($4.8B, −5%), evergreen forest ($28.6B, +1%), emergent herbaceous wetlands ($6.9B, −3%), hay/pasture ($7.3B, −10%), cultivated crops ($9.9B, 0%), developed, open space ($7.0B, +5%), developed, medium intensity ($978M, +46%), developed, low intensity ($2.9B, +15%), and developed, high intensity ($318M, +39%). The percent change in monetary values was different from percent change in areas because different soil orders have different TSC contents. The percent changes (between 2001 and 2016) both in areas and monetary values varied by soil order and land cover with $1.1B in likely “realized” social cost of C mostly associated with Ultisols ($658.8M). The Midlands region of the state experienced the highest gains in the “high disturbance” classes and corresponding SC-CO<sub>2</sub> with over $421M for TSC, $354.6M for SOC, and $66.4M for SIC. Among counties, Horry County ranked first with over $142.2M in SC-CO<sub>2</sub> for TSC, followed by Lexington ($103.7M), Richland ($95.3M), Greenville ($81.4M), York ($77.5M), Charleston ($70.7M), Beaufort ($64.1M), Berkeley ($50.9M), Spartanburg ($50.0M), and Aiken ($43.0M) counties. Spatial and temporal analyses of land cover can identify critical locations of soil carbon regulating ecosystem services at risk.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4834/2/4/40accountingcarbon emissionsCO<sub>2</sub>inorganicorganicregulating |
| spellingShingle | Elena A. Mikhailova Lili Lin Zhenbang Hao Hamdi A. Zurqani Christopher J. Post Mark A. Schlautman Gregory C. Post Land Cover Change and Soil Carbon Regulating Ecosystem Services in the State of South Carolina, USA Earth accounting carbon emissions CO<sub>2</sub> inorganic organic regulating |
| title | Land Cover Change and Soil Carbon Regulating Ecosystem Services in the State of South Carolina, USA |
| title_full | Land Cover Change and Soil Carbon Regulating Ecosystem Services in the State of South Carolina, USA |
| title_fullStr | Land Cover Change and Soil Carbon Regulating Ecosystem Services in the State of South Carolina, USA |
| title_full_unstemmed | Land Cover Change and Soil Carbon Regulating Ecosystem Services in the State of South Carolina, USA |
| title_short | Land Cover Change and Soil Carbon Regulating Ecosystem Services in the State of South Carolina, USA |
| title_sort | land cover change and soil carbon regulating ecosystem services in the state of south carolina usa |
| topic | accounting carbon emissions CO<sub>2</sub> inorganic organic regulating |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4834/2/4/40 |
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