Abstract
Based on the measurements in the enclosure and uncontrolled grazing plots in the typical steppe of Xilinguole, Inner Mongolia, this paper studied the soil carbon storage and carbon sequestration in the grasslands dominated by Leymus chinensis, Stipa grandis, and Stipa krylovii, respectively, and estimated the regional scale soil carbon sequestration potential in the heavily degraded grassland after restoration. At local scale, the annual soil carbon sequestration in the three grass-lands all decreased with increasing year of enclosure. The soil organic carbon storage was significantly higher in the grasslands dominated by L. chinensis and Stipa grandis than in that dominated by Stipa krylovii, but the latter had much higher soil carbon sequestration potential, because of the greater loss of soil organic carbon during the degradation process due to overgrazing. At regional scale, the soil carbon sequestration potential at the depth of 0-20 cm varied from -0.03×104 to 3.71×104 kg C·a-1, and the total carbon sequestration potential was 12.1×108 kg C·a-1. Uncer-tainty analysis indicated that soil gravel content had less effect on the estimated carbon sequestration potential, but the estimation errors resulted from the spatial interpolation of climate data could be about ±4.7×109 kg C·a-1. In the future, if the growth season precipitation in this region had an average variation of -3. 2 mm·(10 a)-1, the soil carbon sequestration potential would be decreased by 1. 07×108 kg C·(10 a)-1.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 29-37 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology |
Volume | 23 |
Issue number | 1 |
State | Published - Jan 2012 |
Keywords
- Carbon sequestration potential
- Grassland degradation
- Grassland restoration
- Inner Mongolia typical steppe
- Scaling
- Uncertainty analysis
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
- Ecology