Storage, patterns, and control of soil organic carbon and nitrogen in the northeastern margin of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau
This study tested the hypothesis that soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) spatial distributions show clear relationships with soil properties and vegetation composition as well as climatic conditions. Further, this study aimed to find the corresponding controlling parameters of SOC and...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2012-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/7/3/035401 |
| _version_ | 1797748514730541056 |
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| author | Wenjie Liu Shengyun Chen Xiang Qin Frank Baumann Thomas Scholten Zhaoye Zhou Weijun Sun Tongzuo Zhang Jiawen Ren Dahe Qin |
| author_facet | Wenjie Liu Shengyun Chen Xiang Qin Frank Baumann Thomas Scholten Zhaoye Zhou Weijun Sun Tongzuo Zhang Jiawen Ren Dahe Qin |
| author_sort | Wenjie Liu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This study tested the hypothesis that soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) spatial distributions show clear relationships with soil properties and vegetation composition as well as climatic conditions. Further, this study aimed to find the corresponding controlling parameters of SOC and TN storage in high-altitude ecosystems. The study was based on soil, vegetation and climate data from 42 soil pits taken from 14 plots. The plots were investigated during the summers of 2009 and 2010 at the northeastern margin of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau. Relationships of SOC density with soil moisture, soil texture, biomass and climatic variables were analyzed. Further, storage and vertical patterns of SOC and TN of seven representative vegetation types were estimated. The results show that significant relationships of SOC density with belowground biomass (BGB) and soil moisture (SM) can be observed. BGB and SM may be the dominant factors influencing SOC density in the topsoil of the study area. The average densities of SOC and TN at a depth of 1 m were about 7.72 kg C m ^−2 and 0.93 kg N m ^−2 . Both SOC and TN densities were concentrated in the topsoil (0–20 cm) and fell exponentially as soil depth increased. Additionally, the four typical vegetation types located in the northwest of the study area were selected to examine the relationship between SOC and environmental factors (temperature and precipitation). The results indicate that SOC density has a negative relationship with temperature and a positive relationship with precipitation diminishing with soil depth. It was concluded that SOC was concentrated in the topsoil, and that SOC density correlates well with BGB. SOC was predominantly influenced by SM, and to a much lower extent by temperature and precipitation. This study provided a new insight in understanding the control of SOC and TN density in the northeastern margin of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:05:53Z |
| format | Article |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:05:53Z |
| publishDate | 2012-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-bb690d01983f41118bfdcb56251e40e72023-08-09T14:22:00ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262012-01-017303540110.1088/1748-9326/7/3/035401Storage, patterns, and control of soil organic carbon and nitrogen in the northeastern margin of the Qinghai–Tibetan PlateauWenjie Liu0Shengyun Chen1Xiang Qin2Frank Baumann3Thomas Scholten4Zhaoye Zhou5Weijun Sun6Tongzuo Zhang7Jiawen Ren8Dahe Qin9Qilian Shan Station of Glaciology and Ecologic Environment, State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Lanzhou 730000, People’s Republic of ChinaQilian Shan Station of Glaciology and Ecologic Environment, State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Lanzhou 730000, People’s Republic of ChinaQilian Shan Station of Glaciology and Ecologic Environment, State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Lanzhou 730000, People’s Republic of ChinaInstitute of Geography, Chair of Physical Geography and Soil Science, University of Tübingen , Rümelinstrasse 19-23, Tübingen 72070, GermanyInstitute of Geography, Chair of Physical Geography and Soil Science, University of Tübingen , Rümelinstrasse 19-23, Tübingen 72070, GermanyQilian Shan Station of Glaciology and Ecologic Environment, State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Lanzhou 730000, People’s Republic of ChinaQilian Shan Station of Glaciology and Ecologic Environment, State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Lanzhou 730000, People’s Republic of ChinaNorthwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Xining 810001, People’s Republic of ChinaQilian Shan Station of Glaciology and Ecologic Environment, State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Lanzhou 730000, People’s Republic of ChinaQilian Shan Station of Glaciology and Ecologic Environment, State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Lanzhou 730000, People’s Republic of ChinaThis study tested the hypothesis that soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) spatial distributions show clear relationships with soil properties and vegetation composition as well as climatic conditions. Further, this study aimed to find the corresponding controlling parameters of SOC and TN storage in high-altitude ecosystems. The study was based on soil, vegetation and climate data from 42 soil pits taken from 14 plots. The plots were investigated during the summers of 2009 and 2010 at the northeastern margin of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau. Relationships of SOC density with soil moisture, soil texture, biomass and climatic variables were analyzed. Further, storage and vertical patterns of SOC and TN of seven representative vegetation types were estimated. The results show that significant relationships of SOC density with belowground biomass (BGB) and soil moisture (SM) can be observed. BGB and SM may be the dominant factors influencing SOC density in the topsoil of the study area. The average densities of SOC and TN at a depth of 1 m were about 7.72 kg C m ^−2 and 0.93 kg N m ^−2 . Both SOC and TN densities were concentrated in the topsoil (0–20 cm) and fell exponentially as soil depth increased. Additionally, the four typical vegetation types located in the northwest of the study area were selected to examine the relationship between SOC and environmental factors (temperature and precipitation). The results indicate that SOC density has a negative relationship with temperature and a positive relationship with precipitation diminishing with soil depth. It was concluded that SOC was concentrated in the topsoil, and that SOC density correlates well with BGB. SOC was predominantly influenced by SM, and to a much lower extent by temperature and precipitation. This study provided a new insight in understanding the control of SOC and TN density in the northeastern margin of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/7/3/035401alpine ecosystemglobal warmingsoil moistureaboveground biomassbelowground biomassmean annual temperature and precipitation |
| spellingShingle | Wenjie Liu Shengyun Chen Xiang Qin Frank Baumann Thomas Scholten Zhaoye Zhou Weijun Sun Tongzuo Zhang Jiawen Ren Dahe Qin Storage, patterns, and control of soil organic carbon and nitrogen in the northeastern margin of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau Environmental Research Letters alpine ecosystem global warming soil moisture aboveground biomass belowground biomass mean annual temperature and precipitation |
| title | Storage, patterns, and control of soil organic carbon and nitrogen in the northeastern margin of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau |
| title_full | Storage, patterns, and control of soil organic carbon and nitrogen in the northeastern margin of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau |
| title_fullStr | Storage, patterns, and control of soil organic carbon and nitrogen in the northeastern margin of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau |
| title_full_unstemmed | Storage, patterns, and control of soil organic carbon and nitrogen in the northeastern margin of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau |
| title_short | Storage, patterns, and control of soil organic carbon and nitrogen in the northeastern margin of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau |
| title_sort | storage patterns and control of soil organic carbon and nitrogen in the northeastern margin of the qinghai tibetan plateau |
| topic | alpine ecosystem global warming soil moisture aboveground biomass belowground biomass mean annual temperature and precipitation |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/7/3/035401 |
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