Chin J Plan Ecolo ›› 2017, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (9): 953-963.DOI: 10.17521/cjpe.2017.0102

• Research Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Soil carbon storage and its determinants in the forests of Shaanxi Province, China

Xi LI1,2, Fang WANG3, Yang CAO4,5, Shou-Zhang PENG4,5, Yun-Ming CHEN4,5,*()   

  1. 1Research Center of Institute of Soil and Water Conservation and Ecological Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Education, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China

    2University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China

    3Water and Soil Conservation Supervision and Management Station of Baota District, Yanan, Shaanxi 716009

    4State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on Loess Plateau, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China;

    5Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
  • Received:2017-04-14 Revised:2017-07-09 Online:2017-09-10 Published:2017-10-23
  • Contact: Yun-Ming CHEN

Abstract:

Aims The bank of soil carbon of forests plays an important role in the global carbon cycle. Our aim is to understand the characteristics of soil carbon storage and its determinants in the forests in Shaanxi Province.Methods The data of forest inventory in 2009 and resampling in 2011 were used to analyze the characteristics of soil carbon storage and its determinants in the forest soil in Shaanxi Province.Important findings The soil carbon storage in the forests in Shaanxi Province was 579.68 Tg. Soil carbon storage of Softwood and Hardwood forests were the highest among all forest types, accounting for 36.35% of the whole province forest soil carbon storage. The forest soil carbon storage was 4.15 times greater in the natural forest (467.17 Tg) than that in the plantations. The young and middle-aged forests were the main contributors to the total carbon storage across all age groups, accounting for about 57.30% of the total forest soil carbon storage. The average soil carbon density of forests in Shaanxi Province was 90.68 t∙hm-2, in which the soil carbon density of Betula forests was the highest (141.74 t∙hm-2). Soil carbon density of different forest types were gradually decreased with soil depth. In addition, it was highest in middle-aged forest. Soil carbon density was higher in the natural forest ecosystems than that in the plantations within the each age group, indicating natural forest ecosystems have higher capacity of carbon sequestration. Differences in the spatial patterns between carbon storage and density indicated that carbon storage was related to forest coverage. The soil carbon density and storage of forests in Yulin were the lowest across the province. This suggests that, in order to enhance the regional carbon sequestration capacity in this region, we need to appropriately strengthen artificial afforestation activities and manage them scientifically and rationally. The soil carbon density of forests in Shaanxi Province decreased with the increase of longitude, latitude, and annual temperature, but increased with the increase of altitude and annual rainfall. This study provides data basis for provincial estimation of forest soil carbon bank in China.

Key words: forest soils, carbon storage, carbon density, spatial distribution, influencing factors