Effect of Vegetation Rehabilitation on Soil Carbon and Its Fractions in Mu Us Desert, Northwest China

Abstract

Although vegetation rehabilitation on semi-arid and arid regions may enhance soil carbon sequestration, its effects on soil carbon fractions remain uncertain. We carried out a study after planting Artemisia ordosica (AO, 17 years), Astragalus mongolicum (AM, 5 years), and Salix psammophila (SP, 16 years) on shifting sand land (SL) in the Mu Us Desert, northwest China. We measured total soil carbon (TSC) and its components, soil inorganic carbon (SIC) and soil organic carbon (SOC), as well as the light and heavy fractions within soil organic carbon (LF-SOC and HF-SOC), under the SL and shrublands at depths of 100 cm. TSC stock under SL was 27.6 Mg ha⁻¹, and vegetation rehabilitation remarkably elevated it by 40.6 Mgha⁻¹, 4.5 Mgha⁻¹, and 14.1 Mgha⁻¹ under AO, AM and SP land, respectively. Among the newly formed TSC under the three shrublands, SIC, LF-SOC and HF-SOC accounted for 75.0%, 10.7% and 13.1% for AO, respectively; they made up 37.0%, 50.7% and 10.6% for AM, respectively; they occupied 68.6%, 18.8% and 10.0% for SP, respectively. The accumulation rates of TSC within 0–100 cm reached 238.6 g m⁻²y⁻¹, 89.9 g m⁻²y⁻¹ and 87.9 g m⁻²y⁻¹ under AO, AM and SP land, respectively. The present study proved that the accumulation of SIC considerably contributed to soil carbon sequestration, and vegetation rehabilitation on shifting sand land has a great potential for soil carbon sequestration.

Keywords::

• soil organic carbon
• soil inorganic carbon
• organic carbon fractions
• vegetation rehabilitation
• desertification control
• northwest China