Premium
Spatial variability and change in soil organic carbon stocks in response to recovery following land abandonment and erosion in mountainous drylands
Author(s) -
Baets S.,
Meersmans J.,
Vanacker V.,
Quine T. A.,
Oost K.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
soil use and management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.709
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1475-2743
pISSN - 0266-0032
DOI - 10.1111/sum.12017
Subject(s) - soil carbon , environmental science , erosion , land use, land use change and forestry , hydrology (agriculture) , arid , carbon sequestration , abandonment (legal) , soil retrogression and degradation , altitude (triangle) , land degradation , land use , soil science , physical geography , geology , soil water , geography , ecology , carbon dioxide , geomorphology , paleontology , geotechnical engineering , geometry , mathematics , biology , political science , law
This research investigates the impact of human activities on carbon ( C ) dynamics in a mountainous and semi‐arid environment. Despite the low C status of drylands, soil organic carbon ( SOC ) is the largest C pool in these systems and therefore may offer significant C sequestration potential in systems recovering from degradation. Nevertheless, quantification of this potential is limited by lack of knowledge concerning the magnitude of and controls on regional SOC stocks. Therefore, this study aimed to (i) investigate the variability of soil organic carbon in relation to recovery period and key soil and topographical variables, and (ii) quantify the effects of recovery period following abandonment on SOC stocks. Soil profiles were sampled in the S ierra de los F ilabres (southeast S pain) in different land units along geomorphic and degradation gradients. SOC contents were modelled using recovery period and soil and topographical variables. Sample depth, topographic position, altitude, recovery period and stone content were identified as the main factors for predicting SOC concentrations. SOC stocks in 1 m depth of soil varied between 3.16 and 76.44 t/ha. Recovery period (years since abandonment), topographic position and altitude were used to predict and map SOC stocks in the top 0.2 m. The results show that C accumulates rapidly during the first 10–50 yr following abandonment; thereafter, the stocks evolve towards a steady‐state level. The erosion zones in the study area demonstrate greater potential to increase their SOC stocks when abandoned. Deposition zones have greater SOC values, although their C accumulation rate is lower compared with erosional landscapes in the first 10–50 yr following abandonment. Therefore, full understanding of the C sequestration potential of land use change in areas of complex topography requires knowledge of spatial variability in soil properties and in particular SOC .