Impacts of management practices on soil organic carbon in degraded alpine meadows on the Tibetan Plateau
Grassland soil organic carbon (SOC) is sensitive to anthropogenic activities. Increased anthropogenic disturbance related to overgrazing has led to widespread alpine grassland degradation on the Tibetan Plateau. The degraded grasslands are considered to have great potential for carbon sequestration...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Copernicus Publications
2014-07-01
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| Series: | Biogeosciences |
| Online Access: | http://www.biogeosciences.net/11/3495/2014/bg-11-3495-2014.pdf |
| _version_ | 1818583913525673984 |
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| author | X. F. Chang X. X. Zhu S. P. Wang S. J. Cui C. Y. Luo Z. H. Zhang A. Wilkes |
| author_facet | X. F. Chang X. X. Zhu S. P. Wang S. J. Cui C. Y. Luo Z. H. Zhang A. Wilkes |
| author_sort | X. F. Chang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Grassland soil organic carbon (SOC) is sensitive to anthropogenic activities.
Increased anthropogenic disturbance related to overgrazing has led to
widespread alpine grassland degradation on the Tibetan Plateau. The degraded
grasslands are considered to have great potential for carbon sequestration
after adoption of improved management practices. Here, we calibrated and
employed the Century model to investigate the effects of overgrazing and
improved managements on the SOC dynamics in alpine meadows. We calibrated
the Century model against plant productivity at the Haibei Research Station. SOC
stocks for validation were obtained in 2009–2010 from degraded alpine
meadows in two communes. We found that Century model can successfully capture
grassland SOC changes. Overall, our simulation suggests that degraded alpine
meadow SOC significantly increased with the advent of restoration management
from 2011 to 2030. Carbon sequestration rates ranged between 0.04 Mg C ha<sup>−1</sup> yr<sup>−1</sup> in lightly degraded winter grazing grasslands and
2.0 Mg C ha<sup>−1</sup> yr<sup>−1</sup> in moderately degraded summer grazing
grasslands. Our modelling work also predicts that improve management in
degraded Tibetan grasslands will contribute to an annual carbon sink of
0.022–0.059 Pg C yr<sup>−1</sup>. These results imply that restoration of
degraded grasslands in the Tibetan Plateau has great potential for soil carbon
sequestration to mitigate greenhouse gases. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-16T08:12:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-35e1e3e2730342139238f39d254aa2bf |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1726-4170 1726-4189 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-16T08:12:50Z |
| publishDate | 2014-07-01 |
| publisher | Copernicus Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Biogeosciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-35e1e3e2730342139238f39d254aa2bf2022-12-21T22:38:18ZengCopernicus PublicationsBiogeosciences1726-41701726-41892014-07-0111133495350310.5194/bg-11-3495-2014Impacts of management practices on soil organic carbon in degraded alpine meadows on the Tibetan PlateauX. F. Chang0X. X. Zhu1S. P. Wang2S. J. Cui3C. Y. Luo4Z. H. Zhang5A. Wilkes6Laboratory of Alpine Ecology and Biodiversity of the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 16 Lincui Rd., 100101 Beijing, ChinaKey Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Haibei Alpine Meadow Ecosystem Research Station, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 23 Xinning Rd., 810008 Xining, ChinaLaboratory of Alpine Ecology and Biodiversity of the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 16 Lincui Rd., 100101 Beijing, ChinaKey Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Haibei Alpine Meadow Ecosystem Research Station, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 23 Xinning Rd., 810008 Xining, ChinaKey Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Haibei Alpine Meadow Ecosystem Research Station, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 23 Xinning Rd., 810008 Xining, ChinaKey Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Haibei Alpine Meadow Ecosystem Research Station, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 23 Xinning Rd., 810008 Xining, ChinaCenter for Mountain Ecosystem Studies, Kunming Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 132 Lanhei Rd., 650201 Kunming, ChinaGrassland soil organic carbon (SOC) is sensitive to anthropogenic activities. Increased anthropogenic disturbance related to overgrazing has led to widespread alpine grassland degradation on the Tibetan Plateau. The degraded grasslands are considered to have great potential for carbon sequestration after adoption of improved management practices. Here, we calibrated and employed the Century model to investigate the effects of overgrazing and improved managements on the SOC dynamics in alpine meadows. We calibrated the Century model against plant productivity at the Haibei Research Station. SOC stocks for validation were obtained in 2009–2010 from degraded alpine meadows in two communes. We found that Century model can successfully capture grassland SOC changes. Overall, our simulation suggests that degraded alpine meadow SOC significantly increased with the advent of restoration management from 2011 to 2030. Carbon sequestration rates ranged between 0.04 Mg C ha<sup>−1</sup> yr<sup>−1</sup> in lightly degraded winter grazing grasslands and 2.0 Mg C ha<sup>−1</sup> yr<sup>−1</sup> in moderately degraded summer grazing grasslands. Our modelling work also predicts that improve management in degraded Tibetan grasslands will contribute to an annual carbon sink of 0.022–0.059 Pg C yr<sup>−1</sup>. These results imply that restoration of degraded grasslands in the Tibetan Plateau has great potential for soil carbon sequestration to mitigate greenhouse gases.http://www.biogeosciences.net/11/3495/2014/bg-11-3495-2014.pdf |
| spellingShingle | X. F. Chang X. X. Zhu S. P. Wang S. J. Cui C. Y. Luo Z. H. Zhang A. Wilkes Impacts of management practices on soil organic carbon in degraded alpine meadows on the Tibetan Plateau Biogeosciences |
| title | Impacts of management practices on soil organic carbon in degraded alpine meadows on the Tibetan Plateau |
| title_full | Impacts of management practices on soil organic carbon in degraded alpine meadows on the Tibetan Plateau |
| title_fullStr | Impacts of management practices on soil organic carbon in degraded alpine meadows on the Tibetan Plateau |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impacts of management practices on soil organic carbon in degraded alpine meadows on the Tibetan Plateau |
| title_short | Impacts of management practices on soil organic carbon in degraded alpine meadows on the Tibetan Plateau |
| title_sort | impacts of management practices on soil organic carbon in degraded alpine meadows on the tibetan plateau |
| url | http://www.biogeosciences.net/11/3495/2014/bg-11-3495-2014.pdf |
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