Skip to main content
Log in

Effects of topography on soil organic carbon stocks in grasslands of a semiarid alpine region, northwestern China

  • Soils, Sec 1 • Soil Organic Matter Dynamics and Nutrient Cycling • Research Article
  • Published:
Journal of Soils and Sediments Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Soil organic carbon (SOC) in mountainous regions is characterized by strong topography-induced heterogeneity, which may contribute to large uncertainties in regional SOC stock estimation. However, the quantitative effects of topography on SOC stocks in semiarid alpine grasslands are currently not well understood. Therefore, the purpose of this research study is to determine the role of topography in shaping the spatial patterns of SOC stocks.

Materials and methods

Soils from the summit, shoulder, backslope, footslope, and toeslope positions along nine toposequences within three elevation-dependent grassland types (i.e., montane desert steppe at ~ 2450 m, montane steppe at ~ 2900 m, and subalpine meadow at ~ 3350 m) are sampled at four depths (0–10, 10–20, 20–40, and 40–60 cm). SOC content, bulk density, soil texture, soil water content, and grassland biomass are determined. The general linear model (GLM) is employed to quantify the effects of topography on the SOC stocks. Ordinary least squares regressions are performed to explore the underlying relationships between SOC stocks and the other edaphic factors.

Results and discussion

In accordance with the present results, the SOC stocks at 0–60 cm show an increasing trend in respect to the elevation zone, with the highest stock being approximately 37.70 g m−2 in the subalpine meadow, about 2.07 and 3.41 times larger than that in the montane steppe and montane desert steppe, respectively. Along the toposequences, it is revealed the SOC stocks are maximal at toeslope, reaching to 14.98, 31.76, and 49.52 kg m−2, which are also significantly larger than those at the shoulder by a factor of 1.38, 2.31, and 1.44, in montane desert steppe, montane steppe, and subalpine meadow, respectively. Topography totally is seen to explain about 84% of the overall variation in SOC stocks, of which 70.61 and 9.74% are attributed to elevation zone and slope position, while the slope aspect and slope gradient are seen to plausibly explain only about 1.84 and 0.01%, respectively.

Conclusions

The elevation zone and the slope position are seen to markedly shape the spatial patterns of the SOC stocks, and thus, they may be considered as key indicating factors in constructing the optimal SOC estimation model in such semiarid alpine grasslands.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bangroo SA, Najar GR, Rasool A (2017) Effect of altitude and aspect on soil organic carbon and nitrogen stocks in the Himalayan Mawer Forest Range. Catena 158:63–68

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Barré P, Durand H, Chenu C, Meunier P, Montagne D, Castel G, Billiou D, Soucémarianadin L, Cécillon L (2017) Geological control of soil organic carbon and nitrogen stocks at the landscape scale. Geoderma 285:50–56

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bellamy PH, Loveland PJ, Bradley RI, Lark RM, Kirk GJD (2005) Carbon losses from all soils across England and Wales 1978-2003. Nature 437:245–248

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bennie J, Hill MO, Baxter R, Huntley B (2006) Influence of slope and aspect on long-term vegetation change in British chalk grasslands. J Ecol 94:355–368

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bennie J, Huntley B, Wiltshire A, Hill MO, Baxter R (2008) Slope, aspect and climate: spatially explicit and implicit models of topographic microclimate in chalk grassland. Ecol Model 216:47–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen LH, Qu YG, Chen HS, Li FX (1992) Water and land resources and their rational development and utilization in the Hexi Region. Science Press, Beijing (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen LF, He ZB, Du J, Yang JJ, Zhu X (2015) Patterns and controls of soil organic carbon and nitrogen in alpine forests of northwestern China. For Sci 61:1033–1040

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen LF, He ZB, Du J, Yang JJ, Zhu X (2016) Patterns and environmental controls of soil organic carbon and total nitrogen in alpine ecosystems of northwestern China. Catena 137:37–43

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chirinda N, Roncossek SD, Heckrath G, Elsgaard L, Thomsen IK, Olesen JE (2014) Root and soil carbon distribution at shoulderslope and footslope positions of temperate toposequences cropped to winter wheat. Catena 123:99–105

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • De Vos B, Cools N, Ilvesniemi H, Vesterdal L, Vanguelova E, Camicelli S (2015) Benchmark values for forest soil carbon stocks in Europe: results from a large scale forest soil survey. Geoderma 251:33–46

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ding JZ, Li F, Yang GB, Chen LY, Zhang BB, Liu L, Fang K, Qin SQ, Chen YL, Peng YF, Ji CJ, He HL, Smith P, Yang YH (2016) The permafrost carbon inventory on the Tibetan Plateau: a new evaluation using deep sediment cores. Glob Chang Biol 22:2688–2701

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • FAO/IIASA/ISRIC/ISSCAS/JRC (2012) Harmonized World Soil Database (version 1.2). FAO, Rome, Italy and IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria

  • Gessler PE, Chadwick OA, Chamran F, Althouse L, Holmes K (2000) Modeling soil-landscape and ecosystem properties using terrain attributes. Soil Sci Soc Am J 64:2046–2056

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hancock GR, Murphy D, Evans KG (2010) Hillslope and catchment scale soil organic carbon concentration: an assessment of the role of geomorphology and soil erosion in an undisturbed environment. Geoderma 155:36–45

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • He ZB, Zhao WZ, Liu H, Tang ZX (2012) Effect of forest on annual water yield in the mountains of an arid inland river basin: a case study in the Pailugou catchment on northwestern China's Qilian Mountains. Hydrol Process 26:613–621

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heckman K, Welty-Bernard A, Rasmussen C, Schwartz E (2009) Geologic controls of soil carbon cycling and microbial dynamics in temperate conifer forests. Chem Geol 267(1–2):12–23

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Heckrath G, Djurhuus J, Quine TA, Van Oost K, Govers G, Zhang Y (2005) Tillage erosion and its effect on soil properties and crop yield in Denmark. J Environ Qual 34:312–324

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jobbágy EG, Jackson RB (2000) The vertical distribution of soil organic carbon and its relation to climate and vegetation. Ecol Appl 10:423–436

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lenka NK, Sudhishri S, Dass A, Choudhury PR, Lenka S, Patnaik US (2013) Soil carbon sequestration as affected by slope aspect under restoration treatments of a degraded alfisol in the Indian sub-tropics. Geoderma 204–205:102–110

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li GW, Feng Q, Zhang FP, Cheng AF (2014) Research on the infiltration processes of lawn soils of the Babao River in the Qilian Mountain. Water Sci Technol 70:577–585

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li YQ, Wang XY, Niu YY, Lian J, Luo YQ, Chen YP, Gong XW, Yang H, Yu PD (2018) Spatial distribution of soil organic carbon in the ecologically fragile Horqin Grassland of northeastern China. Geoderma 325:102–109

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liu ZP, Shao MA, Wang YQ (2011) Effect of environmental factors on regional soil organic carbon stocks across the Loess Plateau region, China. Agr Ecosyst Environ 142:184–194

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lozano-García B, Parras-Alcantára L (2014) Variation in soil organic carbon and nitrogen stocks along a toposequence in a traditional Mediterranean olive grove. Land Degrad Dev 25:297–304

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lozano-García B, Parras-Alcántara L, Brevik EC (2016) Impact of topographic aspect and vegetation (native and reforested areas) on soil organic carbon and nitrogen budgets in Mediterranean natural areas. Sci Total Environ 544:963–970

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ma WM, Li ZW, Ding KY, Huang B, Nie XD, Lu YM, Xiao HB, Zeng GM (2016) Stability of soil organic carbon and potential carbon sequestration at eroding and deposition sites. J Soils Sediments 16:1705–1717

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McCarty GW, Ritchie JC (2002) Impact of soil movement on carbon sequestration in agricultural ecosystems. Environ Pollut 116:423–430

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McCune B, Keon D (2002) Equations for potential annual direct incident radiation and heat load. J Veg Sci 13:603–606

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson DW, Sommers LE (1982) Total carbon, organic carbon and organic matter. In: Page AL, Miller RH, Keeney D (eds) Methods of soil analysis, part 2. Chemical and microbiological properties agronomy monograph, vol 9. ASA and SSSA, Madison, pp 539–579

    Google Scholar 

  • Papiernik SK, Lindstrom MJ, Schumacher JA, Farenhorst A, Stephens KD, Schumacher TE, Lobb DA (2005) Variation in soil properties and crop yield across an eroded prairie landscape. J Soil Water Conserv 60:388–395

    Google Scholar 

  • Papiernik SK, Lindstrom MJ, Schumacher TE, Schumacher JA, Malo DD, Lobb DA (2007) Characterization of soil profiles in a landscape affected by long-term tillage. Soil Till Res 93:335–345

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parras-Alcantára L, Lozano-García B, Galán-Espejo A (2015) Soil organic carbon along an altitudinal gradient in the Despenaperros Natural Park, southern Spain. Solid Earth 6:125–134

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prietzel J, Zimmermann L, Schubert A, Christophel D (2016) Organic matter losses in German Alps forest soils since the 1970s most likely caused by warming. Nat Geosci 9:543–550

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Qin YY, Feng Q, Holden NM, Cao JJ (2016) Variation in soil organic carbon by slope aspect in the middle of the Qilian Mountains in the upper Heihe River Basin. China Catena 147:308–314

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Qin Y, Yi SH, Ding YJ, Xu GW, Chen JJ, Wang ZW (2018) Effects of small-scale patchiness of alpine grassland on ecosystem carbon and nitrogen accumulation and estimation in northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Geoderma 318:52–63

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Román-Sánchez A, Vanwalleghem T, Peña A, Laguna A, Giráldez JV (2018) Controls on soil carbon storage from topography and vegetation in a rocky, semi-arid landscapes. Geoderma 311:159–166

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sigua GC, Coleman SW (2010) Spatial distribution of soil carbon in pastures with cow-calf operation: effects of slope aspect and slope position. J Soils Sediments 10:240–247

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sun WY, Zhu HH, Guo SL (2015) Soil organic carbon as a function of land use and topography on the Loess Plateau of China. Ecol Eng 83:249–257

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiaux F, Cornelis JT, Cao W, Vanclooster M, Van Oost K (2014) Combined effect of geomorphic and pedogenic processes on the distribution of soil organic carbon quality along an eroding hillslope on loess soil. Geoderma 216:36–47

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wynn JG, Bird MI, Vellen L, Grand-Clement E, Carter J, Berry SL (2006) Continental-scale measurement of the soil organic carbon pool with climatic, edaphic, and biotic controls. Glob Biogeochem Cycles 20:1–12

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Xu X, Shi Z, Li DJ, Rey A, Ruan HH, Craine JM, Liang JY, Zhou JZ, Luo YQ (2016) Soil properties control decomposition of soil organic carbon: results from data-assimilation analysis. Geoderma 262:235–242

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Xu ZJ, Li ZC, Liu HY, Zhang XD, Hao Q, Cui Y, Yang SL, Liu M, Wang HL, Gielen G, Song ZL (2018) Soil organic carbon in particle-size fractions under three grassland types in Inner Mongolia, China. J Soils Sediments 18:1896–1905

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yang YH, Fang JY, Tang YH, Ji CJ, Zheng CY, He JS, Zhu B (2008) Storage, patterns and controls of soil organic carbon in the Tibetan grasslands. Glob Chang Biol 14:1592–1599

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang YH, Fang JY, Ma WH, Smith P, Mohammat A, Wang SP, Wang W (2010) Soil carbon stock and its changes in northern China's grasslands from 1980s to 2000s. Glob Chang Biol 16:3036–3047

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang WJ, Wang YH, Webb AA, Li ZY, Tian X, Han ZT, Wang SL, Yu PT (2018) Influence of climatic and geographic factors on the spatial distribution of Qinghai spruce forests in the dryland Qilian Mountains of Northwest China. Sci Total Environ 612:1007–1017

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yimer F, Ledin S, Abdelkadir A (2006) Soil organic carbon and total nitrogen stocks as affected by topographic aspect and vegetation in the Bale Mountains, Ethiopia. Geoderma 135:335–344

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang X, Li ZW, Tang ZH, Zeng GM, Huang JQ, Guo W, Chen XL, Hirsh A (2013) Effects of water erosion on the redistribution of soil organic carbon in the hilly red soil region of southern China. Geomorphology 197:137–144

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang K, Su YZ, Yang R (2018) Variation of soil organic carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus stoichiometry and biogeographic factors across the desert ecosystem of Hexi Corridor, northwestern China. J Soils Sediments. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-018-2007-2

  • Zhao NN, Li XG (2017) Effects of aspect-vegetation complex on soil nitrogen mineralization and microbial activity on the Tibetan Plateau. Catena 155:1–9

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu M, Feng Q, Qin YY, Cao JJ, Li HY, Zhao Y (2017) Soil organic carbon as functions of slope aspects and soil depths in a semiarid alpine region of Northwest China. Catena 152:94–102

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We sincerely appreciate the staff from the Xishui Forest Ecological Station of the Gansu Province Qilian Mountains Water Resource Conservation Forest Research Institute for their support to our filed work. We also wish to appreciate Prof. Fu-Ping Zhang and his students from Shaanxi Normal University for analyzing soil samples. The authors thank all reviewers and the journal Editor whose comments have improved the clarity of the revised manuscript.

Funding

This study was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (No. 2017YFC0404305), the National Natural Science Fund of China (No. 41771252), the Grants from the Key Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. QYZDJ-SSW-DQC031), the Major Program of the Natural Science Foundation of Gansu province, China (No. 18JR4RA002), and the Opening Fund of Key Laboratory of Land Surface Process and Climate Change in Cold and Arid Regions, CAS (No. LPCC2017005).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Qi Feng.

Additional information

Responsible editor: Zucong Cai

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zhu, M., Feng, Q., Zhang, M. et al. Effects of topography on soil organic carbon stocks in grasslands of a semiarid alpine region, northwestern China. J Soils Sediments 19, 1640–1650 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-018-2203-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-018-2203-0

Keywords

Navigation