Pedosphere 16(1): 10--17, 2006
ISSN 1002-0160/CN 32-1315/P
©2006 Soil Science Society of China
Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science Press
| Soil organic carbon content and distribution in a small landscape of Dongguan, South China |
SU Zhi-Yao1 , XIONG Yong-Mei1, ZHU Jian-Yun2, YE Yong-Chang2 and YE Mai2 |
1 College of Forestry, South China Agricultural University, Wushan, Guangzhou 510642 (China). E-mail: zyau@scau.edu.cn;
2 Dongguan Research Institute of Forestry, Dongguan 511700 (China) |
| ABSTRACT |
| Global warming has become an increasing concern, and using soil as a carbon sink to sequester carbon dioxide has attracted much attention in recent years. In this study, soil organic carbon (SOC) content and organic carbon density were estimated based on a soil survey of a small landscape in Dongguan, South China, with spatial heterogeneity of SOC distribution and the impacts of land-use patterns on soil organic carbon content assessed. Field sampling was carried out based on a 150 m × 150 m grid system overlaid on the topographic map of the study area and samples were collected in three 20-cm layers to a depth of 60 cm. Spatial variability in the distribution of SOC was assessed using the Kruskal-Wallis test. Results showed that SOC in the topsoil layer (0-20 cm) was not much higher or even lower in some sites than the underlying layers, and except for the two sites covered with natural woodland, it did not exhibit a pronounced vertical gradient. The difference in both horizontal and vertical distribution of SOC was not statistically significant. However, in the topsoil layer among land-use/land-cover patterns, significant differences (P ≤ 0.05) in SOC distribution existed, indicating that management practices had great impact on SOC content. SOC storage in the study area to a depth of 20, 40, and 60 cm was estimated as 2.13 × 106 kg, 3.46 × 106 kg, and 4.61 × 106 kg, respectively. |
| Key Words: land-use pattern, organic carbon content, organic carbon density, spatial variability |
| Citation: Su, Z. Y., Xiong, Y. M., Zhu, J. Y., Ye, Y. C. and Ye, M. 2006. Soil organic carbon content and distribution in a small landscape of Dongguan, South China. Pedosphere. 16(1): 10-17. |
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