Soil carbon storage plays a crucial role in mitigating the climate warming and is significantly impacted by the land use pattern. However, the driving mechanisms behind these changes are subject to debate.

Recently, researchers at the Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, CAS investigated the influence of land-use changes on soil carbon stability, carbon sink function and reveal its driving mechanism in Sanjiang Plain.

This work was published in the journal of Catena on August, 2024.

The researchers found that topsoil TC in wetlands was higher than those in croplands and forest lands. Additionally, reclamation diminished topsoil carbon storage. Structural equation modeling showed that soil carbon storage was positively related to soil water content and RubisCO activity but negatively related to soil bacterial abundance. Soil water content had the largest standardised total positive effect coefficient and indirectly influenced soil carbon storage by affecting RubisCO activity.

The results highlight that the alteration of carbon fixing enzyme activity by soil water content is a crucial mechanism for soil carbon sequestration in response to land-use change. Management strategies that conserve natural wetlands, increase soil water content and minimize land disturbance would be effective in maintaining soil carbon stocks.

Keywords:

Soil Carbon Storage; Land Use; Wetland; Soil Microbial Abundance; Enzyme Activity

Fig. 1. Soil total carbon content, water content, RubisCO activity and structural equation models showing the direct and indirect effects on soil carbon storage.

Contact:

WANG Xianwei

Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

E-mail: wangxianwei@iga.ac.cn

Attachment:

Soil water content and RubisCO activity control the carbon storage in soil under different land uses in Sanjiang Plain, China

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2024.108211