Spatial-temporal changes of soil organic carbon during vegetation recovery at Ziwuling, China

To probe the processes and mechanisms of soil organic carbon (SOC) changes during forest recovery, a 150-year chronosequence study on SOC was conducted for various vegetation succession stages at the Ziwuling area, in the central part of the Loess Plateau, China. Results showed that during the 150 years of local vegetation rehabilitation SOC increased significantly (P < 0.05) over time in the initial period of 55-59 years, but slightly decreased afterwards. Average SOC densities for the 0-100 cm layer of farmland, grassland, shrubland and forest were 4.46, 5.05, 9.95, and 7.49 kg C m(-3), respectively. The decrease in SOC from 60 to 150 years of abandonment implied that the soil carbon pool was a sink for CO2 before the shrubland stage and became a source in the later period. This change resulted from the spatially varied composition and structure of the vegetation. Vegetation recovery had a maximum effect on the surface (0-20 cm) SOC pool. It was concluded that vegetation recovery on the Loess Plateau could result in significantly increased sequestration of atmospheric CO2 in soil and vegetation, which was ecologically important for mitigating the increase of atmospheric concentration of CO2 and for ameliorating the local eco-environment.