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Characteristics of soil water percolation and dissolved organic carbon leaching and their response to long-term fencing in an alpine meadow on the Tibetan Plateau

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Abstract

Fencing is an important method for restoring and reconstructing degraded grasslands on the Tibetan Plateau. Understanding the characteristics of soil water percolation and soil dissolved organic carbon (DOC) leaching and their response to long-term fencing (10 years) could provide a scientific basis for the management of soil water resources and carbon sinks in alpine grasslands. In this study, grazing plots and plots fenced for 10 years were selected in an alpine meadow, and soil bulk density, soil organic carbon (SOC) density, vegetative carbon (VC) density, soil water percolation and DOC leaching were monitored regularly in the two treatments. The results were as follows: (1) Long-term fencing reduced the soil bulk density and improved carbon sequestration in the alpine meadow. The soil bulk density at a depth of 0–20 cm in the fenced plots was significantly lower than that of the grazing plots (p < 0.05), and SOC density and VC density at a depth of 0–40 cm were higher than those of the grazing plots to a different degree. (2) During the non-frozen period (from May to September), total soil water leakage at a depth of 40 cm in the grazing plots was 9.6 mm, which accounted for 2.2% of the total rainfall in this period. After fencing for 10 years, soil water leakage was increased by 53.1%. (3) From May to September, total DOC leaching from the grazing plots was 34.6 gC m−2, and total DOC leaching from the fenced plots was increased by 55.5% compared to the grazing plots. Our results demonstrated obvious soil water percolation and DOC leaching in the alpine meadow. The DOC entered into the groundwater system with the percolation water and finally flowed into lakes and rivers, which represents an important soil carbon loss pathway in alpine meadows.

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Acknowledgements

We sincerely appreciate the invaluable comments of two anonymous reviewers. This work was supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. XDB03030502) the Natural Science Foundation of Qinghai Province (No. 2014-ZJ-901, 2016-ZJ-943Q) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 31300385, 31270523).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, 810001, China

    Yongsheng Yang, Hongqin Li, Jingbin Zhu, Huidan He, Yaxi Wei & Yingnian Li

  2. Ecological Environment Monitoring Center of Environmental Protection Bureau of Qinghai, Xining, 810001, China

    Li Zhang

  3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Jingbin Zhu, Huidan He & Yaxi Wei

  4. Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, China Academy of Sciences, Xining, 810001, China

    Yingnian Li

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  1. Yongsheng Yang
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Yang, Y., Li, H., Zhang, L. et al. Characteristics of soil water percolation and dissolved organic carbon leaching and their response to long-term fencing in an alpine meadow on the Tibetan Plateau. Environ Earth Sci 75, 1471 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-016-6178-0

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