ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Study on the Effect of Soil Moisture on Soil Organic Carbon During the Growing Period of Plants in the Subalpine Meadows Zone of Qilian Mountains, China
Xin Lan 1,2
,
 
,
 
Le Yang 1,2
,
 
Guofeng Zhu 1,2,3,4
,
 
Yue Zhang 1,2
,
 
Zhijie Yu 1,2
,
 
 
 
 
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1
College of Geography and Environmental Science, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou 730070, China
 
2
Key Laboratory of Resource Environment and Sustainable Development of Oasis, Lanzhou 730070, China
 
3
Lanzhou Sub-Center, Remote Sensing Application Center, Ministry of Agriculture, Lanzhou 730000, China
 
4
Shiyang River Ecological Environment Observation Station, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou 730070, China
 
 
Submission date: 2023-07-28
 
 
Final revision date: 2023-11-13
 
 
Acceptance date: 2023-11-28
 
 
Online publication date: 2024-04-24
 
 
Publication date: 2024-05-23
 
 
Corresponding author
Wenxiong Jia   

College of Geography and Environmental Science, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou 730070, China, China
 
 
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2024;33(4):4179-4193
 
KEYWORDS
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ABSTRACT
Soil organic carbon (SOC) is an important component of the global carbon pool, whose accumulation and decomposition affect the balance of the global carbon cycle and climate change. However, understanding of the responses of SOC in alpine ecosystems to climate change is quite limited, especially in the seasonal-frozen soil zone. In order to understand the impact of soil moisture changes on the carbon cycle in alpine mountain ecosystems, we established two sample plots of the semishady and semi-sunny slopes in the subalpine meadow zone of the eastern part of Qilian Mountains, and collected soil samples to investigate the spatial and temporal changes of SOC and soil moisture and their relationships. The study indicated that the SOC content showed significant surface aggregation during the plant growing season, and that the influence of soil moisture on SOC was different in different slope directions and soil depths. The influence of soil moisture on SOC was greater on the semi-shady slope than on the semi-sunny slope. Among different soil layer depths, the soil moisture most significantly affected SOC in the soil layer of 20-40 cm. This study provides a theoretical basis for the study of carbon stocks and carbon cycling at high altitudes.
eISSN:2083-5906
ISSN:1230-1485
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