Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Climate and soil properties drive soil organic and inorganic carbon patterns across a latitudinal gradient in southwestern 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

Drylands account for 47.2% of land area and contain 15.5% of global carbon (C). However, the variation in organic and inorganic C stocks across latitudinal gradients in arid and semiarid shrubland ecosystems remains understudied, and we lack in-depth understanding of the main drivers of C variation at this spatial scale.

Methods

Here, we sampled soils from 95 sites across a latitudinal gradient to explore both the latitudinal patterns and potential drivers of soil organic carbon density (SOCD) and soil inorganic carbon density (SICD). We also assessed variation in SOCD and SICD down the soil profile, by sampling soils at four depths (0 – 10 cm, 10 – 20 cm, 20 – 30 cm, and 30 – 50 cm).

Result

Both SOCD and SICD exhibited a binomial relationship with latitude (P < 0.01). Soil properties accounted for the greatest variation in SOCD, with the most important explanatory factor being exchangeable calcium, followed by mean annual temperature, pH, plant diversity, and silt content. Soil pH and plant diversity were more important in explaining variation in SOCD in the subsoil (> 20 cm depth) than the topsoil. For SICD, soil properties explained the greatest variation at all depths. Soil pH explained the most variance in SICD, followed by exchangeable calcium and mean annual temperature in the topsoil (i.e., 0 – 10 cm and 10 – 20 cm). In the subsoil (i.e., 20 – 30 cm and 30 – 50 cm), exchangeable calcium was the most important predictor, followed by soil organic carbon, mean annual temperature, and pH.

Conclusion

Our study shows that soil properties are a strong predictor of latitudinal patterns of soil organic and inorganic C in arid and semiarid shrubland ecosystems. We also identified differences in potential drivers of SOCD and SICD with depth, advancing our understanding of large-scale patterns of C storage in arid and semiarid soils.

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

Access this article

Log in via an institution

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
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Batjes NH (1996) Total carbon and nitrogen in the soils of the world. Eur J Soil Sci 47:151–163

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Borchard N, Bulusu M, Meyer N, Rodionov A, Herawati H, Blagodatsky S, Cadisch G, Welp G, Amelung W, Martius C (2019) Deep soil carbon storage in tree-dominated land use systems in tropical lowlands of Kalimantan. Geoderma 354:113864

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cao Y, Wang X, Lu X, Yan Y, Fan JH (2013) Soil organic carbon and nutrients along an alpine grassland transect across Northern Tibet. J Mt Sci 10:564–573

    Google Scholar 

  • Chang R, Fu B, Liu G, Wang S, Yao X (2012) The effects of afforestation on soil organic and inorganic carbon: A case study of the Loess Plateau of China. CATENA 95:145–152

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chen L, Liang J, Qin S, Liu L, Fang K, Xu Y, Ding J, Li F, Luo Y, Yang Y (2016) Determinants of carbon release from the active layer and permafrost deposits on the Tibetan Plateau. Nat Commun 7:1–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Deng L, Liu GB, Shangguan ZP (2014) Land-use conversion and changing soil carbon stocks in China’s “Grain-for-Green” Program: A synthesis. Glob Chang Biol 20:3544–3556

    Google Scholar 

  • Dixon JL, Chadwick OA, Vitousek PM (2016) Climate-driven thresholds for chemical weathering in postglacial soils of New Zealand. J Geophys Res Earth Surf 121:1619–1634

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Doetterl S, Stevens A, Six J, Merckx R, Van Oost K, Casanova Pinto M, Casanova-Katny A, Muñoz C, Boudin M, Zagal Venegas E, Boeckx P (2015) Soil carbon storage controlled by interactions between geochemistry and climate. Nat Geosci 8:780–783

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dong D, Huang G, Tao W, Wu R, Hu K, Li C (2018) Interannual variation of precipitation over the Hengduan Mountains during rainy season. Int J Climatol 38:2112–2125

    Google Scholar 

  • Du C, Gao Y (2020) Opposite patterns of soil organic and inorganic carbon along a climate gradient in the alpine steppe of northern Tibetan Plateau. CATENA 186:104366

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fan J, Yang C, Bao W, Liu J, Li X (2020) Distribution Scope and district Statistical Analysis of Dry Valleys in Southwest China. Mt Res 38:303–313

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fantappié M, L’Abate G, Costantini EAC (2011) The influence of climate change on the soil organic carbon content in Italy from 1961 to 2008. Geomorphology 135:343–352

    Google Scholar 

  • Ge J, Xu W, Liu Q, Tang Z, Xie Z (2020) Patterns and environmental controls of soil organic carbon density in Chinese shrublands. Geoderma 363:114161

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Han X, Gao G, Chang R, Li Z, Ma Y, Wang S, Wang C, Lü Y, Fu B (2018) Changes in soil organic and inorganic carbon stocks in deep profiles following cropland abandonment along a precipitation gradient across the Loess Plateau of China. Agric Ecosyst Environ 258:1–13

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson RB, Lajtha K, Crow SE, Hugelius G, Kramer MG, Piñeiro G (2017) The Ecology of Soil Carbon: Pools, Vulnerabilities, and Biotic and Abiotic Controls. Annu Rev Ecol Evol Syst 48:419–445

    Google Scholar 

  • Jia X, Wang X, Hou L, Wei X, Zhang Y, Shao M, Zhao X (2019) Variable response of inorganic carbon and consistent increase of organic carbon as a consequence of afforestation in areas with semiarid soils. L Degrad Dev 30:1345–1356

    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

    Google Scholar 

  • Kögel-Knabner I, Amelung W (2021) Soil organic matter in major pedogenic soil groups. Geoderma 384

  • Kögel-Knabner I, Guggenberger G, Kleber M, Kandeler E, Kalbitz K, Scheu S, Eusterhues K, Leinweber P (2008) Organo-mineral associations in temperate soils: Integrating biology, mineralogy, and organic matter chemistry. J Plant Nutr Soil Sci 171:61–82

    Google Scholar 

  • Lal R (2004) Carbon sequestration in dryland ecosystems. Environ Manage 33:528–544

    Google Scholar 

  • Lal R (2018) Digging deeper: a holistic perspective of factors affecting soil organic carbon sequestration in agroecosystems. Glob Chang Biol 24:3285–3301

    Google Scholar 

  • Legendre P (2008) Studying beta diversity: ecological variation partitioning by multiple regression and canonical analysis. J Plant Ecol 1:3–8

    Google Scholar 

  • Leizeaga A, Hicks LC, Manoharan L, Hawkes CV, Rousk J (2020) Drought legacy affects microbial community trait distributions related to moisture along a savannah grassland precipitation gradient. J Ecol 109(9):3195–3210

  • Li C, Li Q, Zhao L, Ge S, Chen D, Dong Q, Zhao X (2016) Land-use effects on organic and inorganic carbon patterns in the topsoil around Qinghai Lake basin, Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. CATENA 147:345–355

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li X, Yang T, Hicks LC, Hu B, Liu X, Wei D, Wang Z, Bao W (2022) Latitudinal patterns of light and heavy organic matter fractions in arid and semi-arid soils. CATENA 215:106293

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liu W, Wei J, Cheng J, Li W (2014) Profile distribution of soil inorganic carbon along a chronosequence of grassland restoration on a 22-year scale in the Chinese Loess Plateau. CATENA 121:321–329

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lu M, Zhou X, Yang Q, Li H, Luo Y, Fang C, Chen J, Yang X, Li B (2013) Responses of ecosystem carbon cycle to experimental warming: A meta-analysis. Ecology 94:726–738

    Google Scholar 

  • Meier IC, Leuschner C (2010) Variation of soil and biomass carbon pools in beech forests across a precipitation gradient. Glob Chang Biol 16:1035–1045

    Google Scholar 

  • Nie X, Yang L, Li F, Xiong F, Li C, Zhou G (2019) Storage, patterns and controls of soil organic carbon in the alpine shrubland in the Three Rivers Source Region on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. CATENA 178:154–162

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • O’Brien SL, Jastrow JD, Grimley DA, Gonzalez-Meler MA (2015) Edaphic controls on soil organic carbon stocks in restored grasslands. Geoderma 251–252:117–123

    Google Scholar 

  • Raheb A, Heidari A, Mahmoodi S (2017) Organic and inorganic carbon storage in soils along an arid to dry sub-humid climosequence in northwest of Iran. CATENA 153:66–74

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rousk J, Brookes PC, Bååth E (2009) Contrasting soil pH effects on fungal and bacterial growth suggest functional redundancy in carbon mineralization. Appl Environ Microbiol 75:1589–1596

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rowley MC, Grand S, Verrecchia ÉP (2018) Calcium-mediated stabilisation of soil organic carbon. Biogeochemistry 137:27–49

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schimel JP (2018) Life in dry soils: Effects of drought on soil microbial communities and processes. Annu Rev Ecol Evol Syst 49:409–432

    Google Scholar 

  • Schrumpf M, Kaiser K, Guggenberger G, Persson T, Kögel-Knabner I, Schulze ED (2013) Storage and stability of organic carbon in soils as related to depth, occlusion within aggregates, and attachment to minerals. Biogeosciences 10:1675–1691

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shi Y, Baumann F, Ma Y, Song C, Kühn P, Scholten T, He JS (2012) Organic and inorganic carbon in the topsoil of the Mongolian and Tibetan grasslands: Pattern, control and implications. Biogeosciences 9:2287–2299

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Singh M, Sarkar B, Sarkar S, Churchman J, Bolan N, Mandal S, Menon M, Purakayastha TJ, Beerling DJ (2018) Stabilization of Soil Organic Carbon as Influenced by Clay Mineralogy. Adv Agron 148:33–84

    Google Scholar 

  • Six J, Conant RT, Paul EA, Paustian K (2002) Stabilization mechanisms of soil organic matter: Implications for C-saturation of soils. Plant Soil 241:155–176

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stevenson BA, Kelly EF, McDonald EV, Busacca AJ (2005) The stable carbon isotope composition of soil organic carbon and pedogenic carbonates along a bioclimatic gradient in the Palouse region, Washington State, USA. Geoderma 124:37–47

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Su YZ, Wang XF, Yang R, Lee J (2010) Effects of sandy desertified land rehabilitation on soil carbon sequestration and aggregation in an arid region in China. J Environ Manage 91:2109–2116

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tang X, Zhao X, Bai Y, Tang Z, Wang W, Zhao Y, Wan H, Xie Z, Shi X, Wu B, Wang G, Yan J, Ma K, Du S, Li S, Han S, Ma Y, Hu H, He N, Yang Y, Han W, He H, Yu G, Fang J, Zhou G (2018) Carbon pools in China’s terrestrial ecosystems: New estimates based on an intensive field survey. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 115:4021–4026

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vaughan E, Matos M, Ríos S, Santiago C, Marín-Spiotta E (2019) Clay and climate are poor predictors of regional-scale soil carbon storage in the US Caribbean. Geoderma 354:113841

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Virto I, Barré P, Chenu C (2008) Microaggregation and organic matter storage at the silt-size scale. Geoderma 146:326–335

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang G, Guan D, Xiao L, Peart MR (2019b) Ecosystem carbon storage affected by intertidal locations and climatic factors in three estuarine mangrove forests of South China. Reg Environ Chang 19:1701–1712

  • Wang J, Song C, Wang X, Song Y (2012) Changes in labile soil organic carbon fractions in wetland ecosystems along a latitudinal gradient in Northeast China. CATENA 96:83–89

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang X, Li Y, Gong X, Niu Y, Chen Y, Shi X, Li W (2019a) Storage, pattern and driving factors of soil organic carbon in an ecologically fragile zone of northern China. Geoderma 343:155–165

  • Wang X, Wang J, Xu M, Zhang W, Fan T, Zhang J (2015) Carbon accumulation in arid croplands of northwest China: Pedogenic carbonate exceeding organic carbon. Sci Rep 5:1–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang Y, Li Y, Ye X, Chu Y, Wang X (2010) Profile storage of organic/inorganic carbon in soil: From forest to desert. Sci Total Environ 408:1925–1931

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang ZP, Han XG, Chang SX, Wang B, Yu Q, Hou LY, Li LH (2013) Soil organic and inorganic carbon contents under various land uses across a transect of continental steppes in Inner Mongolia. CATENA 109:110–117

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wei DD (2021) Latitudinal Patterns of Species Diversity and its Formation Mechanism in Arid Valleys of Southwest China. University of Chinese Aciademy of Sciences. Master thesis

  • Wei X, Hao M, Shao M, Gale WJ (2006) Changes in soil properties and the availability of soil micronutrients after 18 years of cropping and fertilization. Handb Environ Chem Vol 5 Water Pollut 91:120–130

  • Wei Y, Yu D, Wang Q, Zhou W (2013) Soil organic carbon density and its influencing factors of major forest types in the forest region of Northeast China. Chinese J Appl Ecol 53:1689–1699

    Google Scholar 

  • Wen D, He N (2016) Forest carbon storage along the north-south transect of eastern China: Spatial patterns, allocation, and influencing factors. Ecol Indic 61:960–967

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wiesmeier M, Urbanski L, Hobley E, Lang B, von Lützow M, Marin-Spiotta E, van Wesemael B, Rabot E, Ließ M, Garcia-Franco N, Wollschläger U, Vogel HJ, Kögel-Knabner I (2019) Soil organic carbon storage as a key function of soils - A review of drivers and indicators at various scales. Geoderma 333:149–162

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wu H, Guo Z, Gao Q, Peng C (2009) Distribution of soil inorganic carbon storage and its changes due to agricultural land use activity in China. Agric Ecosyst Environ 129:413–421

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wu X, Fang H, Zhao Y, Smoak JM, Yu S, Ding L (2017) A conceptual model of the controlling factors of soil organic carbon and nitrogen densities in a permafrost-affected region on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. J Geophys Res Biogeosciences 122:1705–1717

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yang Y, Fang J, Ji C, Ma W, Su S, Tang Z (2010) Soil inorganic carbon stock in the Tibetan alpine grasslands. Global Biogeochem Cycles 24:1–11

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang Y, McCormack ML, Hu H, Bao W, Li F (2021) Linking fine-root architecture, vertical distribution and growth rate in temperate mountain shrubs. Oikos 1–10

  • Yu T, Fu Y, Hou Q, Xia X, Yan B, Yang Z (2020) Soil organic carbon increase in semi-arid regions of China from 1980s to 2010s. Appl Geochem 116:104575

  • Yuan J, Zhang Y, You C, Cao R, Tan B, Li H, Jiang Y, Yang W (2021) The three-dimension zonal pattern of soil organic carbon density in China’s forests. CATENA 196:104950

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang N, He X, Gao Y, Li Y, Wang H, Ma D, Zhang R, Yang S (2010) Pedogenic Carbonate and Soil Dehydrogenase Activity in Response to Soil Organic Matter in Artemisia ordosica Community. Pedosphere 20:229–235

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang N, Sun G, Zhong B, Wang E, Zhao C, Wang Y, Cheng W, Wu N (2019) Impacts of wise grazing on physicochemical and biological features of soil in a sandy grassland on the Tibetan Plateau. L Degrad Dev 30:719–729

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang X, Li X, Xu M, Sun N, Shi F (2020) Vertical distribution of soil organic and inorganic carbon pools in soils of northern China and their relationship under different land use types. J Plant Nutr Fertil 26:1440–1450

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Y, Ai J, Sun Q, Li Z, Hou L, Song L, Tang G, Li L, Shao G (2021) Soil organic carbon and total nitrogen stocks as affected by vegetation types and altitude across the mountainous regions in the Yunnan Province, south-western China. CATENA 196:104872

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao W, Zhang R, Cao H, Tan W (2019) Factor contribution to soil organic and inorganic carbon accumulation in the Loess Plateau: Structural equation modeling. Geoderma 352:116–125

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhong Z, Chen Z, Xu Y, Ren C, Yang G, Han X, Ren G, Feng Y (2018) Relationship between soil organic carbon stocks and clay content under different climatic conditions in Central China. Forests 9:1–14

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Yu Yang and Hui Hu for assistance with field sample collections. This research was funded by the National Key R&D Program of China (2017YFC0505105; 2020YFE0203200), the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research program (STEP) (2019QZKK0301) and the Special Foundation for National Science and Technology Basic Resources Investigation of China (2019FY202300).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CAS Key Laboratory of Mountain Ecological Restoration and Bioresource Utilization & Ecological Restoration and Biodiversity Conservation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan, China

    Xiaojuan Li, Tinghui Yang, Bin Hu, Fanglan Li, Xin Liu, Dandan Wei, Zilong Wang & Weikai Bao

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

    Xiaojuan Li, Tinghui Yang, Dandan Wei & Zilong Wang

  3. Section of Microbial Ecology, Department of Biology, Lund University, Ecology Building, 223 62, Lund, Sweden

    Lettice C. Hicks

Authors
  1. Xiaojuan Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Tinghui Yang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Lettice C. Hicks
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Bin Hu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Fanglan Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Xin Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Dandan Wei
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Zilong Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Weikai Bao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Weikai Bao.

Ethics declarations

Conflicts of interests

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Additional information

Responsible editor: Zucong Cai

Publisher's Note

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

Supplementary Information

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file1 (DOCX 1021 kb)

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Li, X., Yang, T., Hicks, L.C. et al. Climate and soil properties drive soil organic and inorganic carbon patterns across a latitudinal gradient in southwestern China. J Soils Sediments 23, 91–102 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-022-03308-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-022-03308-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation