scispace - formally typeset
Journal ArticleDOI

Ecosystem carbon stocks and their changes in China’s grasslands

Reads0
Chats0
TLDR
Spatial patterns and temporal dynamics of grassland biomass were closely correlated with precipitation, while changes in soil C stocks exhibited close associations with soil moisture and soil texture, indicating that grassland ecosystems are C neutral.
Abstract
The knowledge of carbon (C) stock and its dynamics is crucial for understanding the role of grassland ecosystems in China’s terrestrial C cycle. To date, a comprehensive assessment on C balance in China’s grasslands is still lacking. By reviewing pub-lished literature, this study aims to evaluate ecosystem C stocks (both vegetation biomass and soil organic C) and their changes in China’s grasslands. Our results are summarized as follows: (1) biomass C density (C stock per area) of China’s grasslands differed greatly among previous studies, ranging from 215.8 to 348.1 g C m −2 with an average of 300.2 g C m −2 . Likewise, soil C density also varied greatly between 8.5 and 15.1 kg C m −2 . In total, ecosystem C stock in China’s grasslands was estimated at 29.1 Pg C. (2) Both the magnitude and direction of ecosystem C changes in China’s grasslands differed greatly among previous studies. According to recent reports, neither biomass nor soil C stock in China’s grasslands showed a significant change during the past 20 years, indicating that grassland ecosystems are C neutral. (3) Spatial patterns and temporal dynamics of grassland biomass were closely correlated with precipitation, while changes in soil C stocks exhibited close associations with soil moisture and soil texture. Human activities, such as livestock grazing and fencing could also affect ecosystem C dynamics in China’s grasslands.

read more

Citations
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI

Vegetation and soil responses to livestock grazing in Central Asian grasslands: a review of Chinese literature

TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a comprehensive, internationally accessible review on the impact of livestock grazing on vegetation and soils in northern China and the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau.
Journal ArticleDOI

Biomass carbon stocks and their changes in northern China’s grasslands during 1982–2006

TL;DR: The results suggest that different grassland ecosystems in China may show diverse responses to future climate changes, as the responses of grassland biomass to climate variables differed among various grassland types.
Journal ArticleDOI

Carbon management in dryland agricultural systems. A review

TL;DR: In dryland agriculture, any removal of crop residues implies a loss of soil organic carbon (SOC) as discussed by the authors, which in many of them entailed several land degradation processes such as soil erosion, reduction in crop productivity, lower soil water holding capacity, a decline in soil biodiversity, and, ultimately, desertification, hunger and poverty in developing countries.
References
More filters
Journal Article

Spatial characteristics of soil organic carbon and nitrogen in inner Mongolia

TL;DR: Soil organic carbon and nitrogen appeared a reducing trend with increasing temperature and decreasing precipitation from northeast to southwest, and the correlation between soil organic carbon/nitrogen and temperature was negative.
Journal Article

Responses of temporal dynamics of aboveground net primary productivity of Leymus chinensis community to precipitation fluctuation in Inner Mongolia

Wang Yu, +1 more
TL;DR: This paper describes the relationship between aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) and precipitation in Leymus chinensis community based on the observations made in Inner Mongolia grassland from 1981 to 1994 to show significant differences in annual and seasonal precipitation patterns.

Characterizing the dynamics of design change

TL;DR: In this article, the authors conduct an empirical investigation of engineering design changes, as described through the attributes of change requests volume, costs, and location using a large dataset of an actual multi-year, multi-billion engineering project.

Clonal morphological plasticity and biomass allocation pattern of artemisia frigida and potentilla acaulis under different grazing intensities

Li Jin
TL;DR: Differences in morphological plasticity and biomass allocation patterns of these two species indicated that they had different ecological strategies to grazing, and plasticity in the resource allocation patterns in different growing conditions is adaptive, and reflects a tendency toward optimization of performance in any environment.
Related Papers (5)