Climate and land use controls on soil organic carbon in the loess plateau region of China.

The Loess Plateau of China has the highest soil erosion rate in the world where billion tons of soil is annually washed into Yellow River. In recent decades this region has experienced significant climate change and policy-driven land conversion. However, it has not yet been well investigated how th...

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Main Authors: Yaai Dang, Wei Ren, Bo Tao, Guangsheng Chen, Chaoqun Lu, Jia Yang, Shufen Pan, Guodong Wang, Shiqing Li, Hanqin Tian
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2014-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0095548&type=printable
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author Yaai Dang
Wei Ren
Bo Tao
Guangsheng Chen
Chaoqun Lu
Jia Yang
Shufen Pan
Guodong Wang
Shiqing Li
Hanqin Tian
author_facet Yaai Dang
Wei Ren
Bo Tao
Guangsheng Chen
Chaoqun Lu
Jia Yang
Shufen Pan
Guodong Wang
Shiqing Li
Hanqin Tian
author_sort Yaai Dang
collection DOAJ
description The Loess Plateau of China has the highest soil erosion rate in the world where billion tons of soil is annually washed into Yellow River. In recent decades this region has experienced significant climate change and policy-driven land conversion. However, it has not yet been well investigated how these changes in climate and land use have affected soil organic carbon (SOC) storage on the Loess Plateau. By using the Dynamic Land Ecosystem Model (DLEM), we quantified the effects of climate and land use on SOC storage on the Loess Plateau in the context of multiple environmental factors during the period of 1961-2005. Our results show that SOC storage increased by 0.27 Pg C on the Loess Plateau as a result of multiple environmental factors during the study period. About 55% (0.14 Pg C) of the SOC increase was caused by land conversion from cropland to grassland/forest owing to the government efforts to reduce soil erosion and improve the ecological conditions in the region. Historical climate change reduced SOC by 0.05 Pg C (approximately 19% of the total change) primarily due to a significant climate warming and a slight reduction in precipitation. Our results imply that the implementation of "Grain for Green" policy may effectively enhance regional soil carbon storage and hence starve off further soil erosion on the Loess Plateau.
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issn 1932-6203
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publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
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spelling doaj-art-eeaafaa9f6934251adf8a86261e5dadf2025-08-20T02:14:51ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032014-01-0195e9554810.1371/journal.pone.0095548Climate and land use controls on soil organic carbon in the loess plateau region of China.Yaai DangWei RenBo TaoGuangsheng ChenChaoqun LuJia YangShufen PanGuodong WangShiqing LiHanqin TianThe Loess Plateau of China has the highest soil erosion rate in the world where billion tons of soil is annually washed into Yellow River. In recent decades this region has experienced significant climate change and policy-driven land conversion. However, it has not yet been well investigated how these changes in climate and land use have affected soil organic carbon (SOC) storage on the Loess Plateau. By using the Dynamic Land Ecosystem Model (DLEM), we quantified the effects of climate and land use on SOC storage on the Loess Plateau in the context of multiple environmental factors during the period of 1961-2005. Our results show that SOC storage increased by 0.27 Pg C on the Loess Plateau as a result of multiple environmental factors during the study period. About 55% (0.14 Pg C) of the SOC increase was caused by land conversion from cropland to grassland/forest owing to the government efforts to reduce soil erosion and improve the ecological conditions in the region. Historical climate change reduced SOC by 0.05 Pg C (approximately 19% of the total change) primarily due to a significant climate warming and a slight reduction in precipitation. Our results imply that the implementation of "Grain for Green" policy may effectively enhance regional soil carbon storage and hence starve off further soil erosion on the Loess Plateau.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0095548&type=printable
spellingShingle Yaai Dang
Wei Ren
Bo Tao
Guangsheng Chen
Chaoqun Lu
Jia Yang
Shufen Pan
Guodong Wang
Shiqing Li
Hanqin Tian
Climate and land use controls on soil organic carbon in the loess plateau region of China.
PLoS ONE
title Climate and land use controls on soil organic carbon in the loess plateau region of China.
title_full Climate and land use controls on soil organic carbon in the loess plateau region of China.
title_fullStr Climate and land use controls on soil organic carbon in the loess plateau region of China.
title_full_unstemmed Climate and land use controls on soil organic carbon in the loess plateau region of China.
title_short Climate and land use controls on soil organic carbon in the loess plateau region of China.
title_sort climate and land use controls on soil organic carbon in the loess plateau region of china
url https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0095548&type=printable
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