Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Changes following Afforestation of Marginal Cropland across a Precipitation Gradient in Loess Plateau of China

Cropland afforestation has been widely found to increase soil organic carbon (SOC) and soil total nitrogen (STN); however, the magnitudes of SOC and STN accumulation and regulating factors are less studied in dry, marginal lands, and therein the interaction between soil carbon and nitrogen is not well understood. We examined the changes in SOC and STN in younger (5–9-year-old) and older (25–30-year-old) black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L., an N-fixing species) plantations that were established on former cropland along a precipitation gradient (380 to 650 mm) in the semi-arid Loess Plateau of China. The SOC and STN stocks of cropland and plantations increased linearly with precipitation increase, respectively, accompanying an increase in the plantation net primary productivity and the soil clay content along the increasing precipitation gradient. The SOC stock of cropland decreased in younger plantations and increased in older plantations after afforestation, and the amount of the initial loss of SOC during the younger plantations’ establishment increased with precipitation increasing. By contrast, the STN stock of cropland showed no decrease in the initial afforestation while tending to increase with plantation age, and the changes in STN were not related to precipitation. The changes in STN and SOC showed correlated and were precipitation-dependent following afforestation, displaying a higher relative gain of SOC to STN as precipitation decreased. Our results suggest that the afforestation of marginal cropland in Loess Plateau can have a significant effect on the accumulation of SOC and STN, and that precipitation has a significant effect on SOC accumulation but little effect on STN retention. The limitation effect of soil nitrogen on soil carbon accumulation is more limited in the drier area rather than in the wetter sites.

[1]  Stephen D. Pecot,et al.  Assessing the patterns and controls of fine root dynamics: an empirical test and methodological review , 2006 .

[2]  W. Cheng.  Rhizosphere priming effect: Its functional relationships with microbial turnover, evapotranspiration, and C–N budgets , 2009 .

[3]  H. Zahran.  Rhizobium-Legume Symbiosis and Nitrogen Fixation under Severe Conditions and in an Arid Climate , 1999, Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews.

[4]  Dao-you Huang,et al.  [Effects of land use type on soil organic C and total N in a small watershed in loess hilly-gully region]. , 2007, Ying yong sheng tai xue bao = The journal of applied ecology.

[5]  Yiqi Luo,et al.  Carbon and nitrogen dynamics during forest stand development: a global synthesis. , 2011, The New phytologist.

[6]  S. Wright,et al.  Roots And Soil Management: Interactions Between Roots And the Soil , 2005 .

[7]  W. M. Post,et al.  Soil carbon sequestration and land‐use change: processes and potential , 2000 .

[8]  Shuguang Liu,et al.  Modeling carbon dynamics in vegetation and soil under the impact of soil erosion and deposition , 2003 .

[9]  J. Liski,et al.  Soil carbon stores in Nordic well‐drained forest soils—relationships with climate and texture class , 2003 .

[10]  Shaoshan An,et al.  Changes in soil nitrogen and microbial activity during Robinia pseudoacacia recovery period in the Loess Hilly-Gully region: Changes in soil nitrogen and microbial activity during Robinia pseudoacacia recovery period in the Loess Hilly-Gully region , 2012 .

[11]  B. Guenet,et al.  Priming effect: bridging the gap between terrestrial and aquatic ecology. , 2010, Ecology.

[12]  Dale W. Johnson.  Effects of forest management on soil carbon storage , 1992 .

[13]  Thomas H. Painter,et al.  Climatic, edaphic, and biotic controls over storage and turnover of carbon in soils , 1994 .

[14]  Jana E. Compton,et al.  FOREST ECOSYSTEM CARBON AND NITROGEN ACCUMULATION DURING THE FIRST CENTURY AFTER AGRICULTURAL ABANDONMENT , 2003 .

[15]  I. Burke,et al.  Conservation of nitrogen increases with precipitation across a major grassland gradient in the Central Great Plains of North America , 2009, Oecologia.

[16]  D. Binkley,et al.  CHANGES IN SOIL CARBON FOLLOWING AFFORESTATION IN HAWAII , 1998 .

[17]  K. McLauchlan,et al.  The Nature and Longevity of Agricultural Impacts on Soil Carbon and Nutrients: A Review , 2006, Ecosystems.

[18]  Yiqi Luo,et al.  Global patterns of the dynamics of soil carbon and nitrogen stocks following afforestation: a meta-analysis. , 2012, The New phytologist.

[19]  L. Boring,et al.  Symbiotic nitrogen fixation in regenerating black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) stands. , 1984 .

[20]  Y. Kuzyakov,et al.  Review of estimation of plant rhizodeposition and their contribution to soil organic matter formation , 2004 .

[21]  Sha Xue,et al.  Effect of black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) on soil chemical and microbiological properties in the eroded hilly area of China’s Loess Plateau , 2012, Environmental Earth Sciences.

[22]  Bingfang Wu,et al.  A Policy-Driven Large Scale Ecological Restoration: Quantifying Ecosystem Services Changes in the Loess Plateau of China , 2012, PloS one.

[23]  R. B. Jackson,et al.  Soil C and N changes with afforestation of grasslands across gradients of precipitation and plantation age. , 2012, Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America.

[24]  Marie-France Dignac,et al.  Is soil carbon mostly root carbon? Mechanisms for a specific stabilisation , 2005, Plant and Soil.

[25]  D. Binkley,et al.  Tree Species Effects on Soils: Implications for Global Change , 2005 .

[26]  J. Kirkegaard,et al.  Carbon-nutrient stoichiometry to increase soil carbon sequestration , 2013 .

[27]  W. Schlesinger,et al.  The global carbon dioxide flux in soil respiration and its relationship to vegetation and climate , 1992 .

[28]  Eric A. Davidson,et al.  Changes in soil carbon inventories following cultivation of previously untilled soils , 1993 .

[29]  E. González,et al.  Evidence for carbon flux shortage and strong carbon/nitrogen interactions in pea nodules at early stages of water stress. , 2005, Journal of experimental botany.

[30]  Gu Lb,et al.  Soil carbon stocks and land use change : a meta analysis , 2022 .

[31]  S. Ogle,et al.  Knowledge gaps in soil carbon and nitrogen interactions – From molecular to global scale , 2011 .

[32]  S. K. Rice,et al.  Impacts of the exotic, nitrogen-fixing black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) on nitrogen-cycling in a pine–oak ecosystem , 2004, Plant Ecology.

[33]  M. G. Ryan,et al.  Soil‐surface carbon dioxide efflux and microbial biomass in relation to tree density 13 years after a stand replacing fire in a lodgepole pine ecosystem , 2003 .

[34]  M. Shao,et al.  Spatial-temporal changes of soil organic carbon during vegetation recovery at Ziwuling, China , 2005 .

[35]  Sha Xue,et al.  Changes in soil physico-chemical and microbiological properties during natural succession on abandoned farmland in the Loess Plateau , 2011 .

[36]  Jürgen K. Friedel,et al.  Review of mechanisms and quantification of priming effects. , 2000 .

[37]  F. Dijkstra,et al.  Moisture modulates rhizosphere effects on C decomposition in two different soil types , 2007 .

[38]  D. Binkley.  How Nitrogen-Fixing Trees Change Soil Carbon , 2005 .

[39]  Xiangtao Fan,et al.  The variability of NDVI over northwest China and its relation to temperature and precipitation , 2003, IGARSS 2003. 2003 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium. Proceedings (IEEE Cat. No.03CH37477).

[40]  A. Lugo,et al.  Land use and organic carbon content of some subtropical soils , 1986, Plant and Soil.

[41]  Keryn I. Paul,et al.  Change in soil carbon following afforestation , 2002 .

[42]  K. Paustian,et al.  Stabilization mechanisms of soil organic matter: Implications for C-saturation of soils , 2002, Plant and Soil.

[43]  Michael G. Ryan,et al.  EFFECTS OF TREE DENSITY AND STAND AGE ON CARBON ALLOCATION PATTERNS IN POSTFIRE LODGEPOLE PINE , 2004 .

[44]  David Paré,et al.  Carbon accumulation in agricultural soils after afforestation: a meta‐analysis , 2010 .

[45]  A. Piquero,et al.  USING THE CORRECT STATISTICAL TEST FOR THE EQUALITY OF REGRESSION COEFFICIENTS , 1998 .

[46]  K. Gross,et al.  Patterns of diversity in plant and soil microbial communities along a productivity gradient in a Michigan old-field , 2000, Oecologia.

[47]  B. Fu,et al.  The effects of land-use combinations on soil erosion: a case study in the Loess Plateau of China , 2009 .

[48]  B. Fu,et al.  Effects of soil physicochemical properties and stand age on fine root biomass and vertical distribution of plantation forests in the Loess Plateau of China , 2012, Ecological Research.

[49]  W. Parton,et al.  Progressive Nitrogen Limitation of Ecosystem Responses to Rising Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide , 2004 .

[50]  Y. Kuzyakov,et al.  Root Effects on Soil Organic Matter Decomposition , 2005 .

[51]  D. Binkley,et al.  Greater Soil Carbon Sequestration under Nitrogen-fixing Trees Compared with Eucalyptus Species , 2002, Ecosystems.

[52]  Davey L. Jones,et al.  The control of carbon acquisition by roots , 2000 .

[53]  Xiaorong Wei,et al.  Distribution of soil organic C, N and P in three adjacent land use patterns in the northern Loess Plateau, China , 2009 .

[54]  Jiao Ju-ying.  Temporal and Spatial Variation Features of Sediment Yield Intensity on Loess Plateau , 2002 .

[55]  S. Ogle,et al.  Agricultural management impacts on soil organic carbon storage under moist and dry climatic conditions of temperate and tropical regions , 2005 .

[56]  Rattan Lal,et al.  Changes in soil carbon and nutrient pools along a chronosequence of poplar plantations in the Columbia Plateau, Oregon, USA , 2007 .

[57]  Ross E. McMurtrie,et al.  Does conversion of forest to agricultural land change soil carbon and nitrogen? a review of the literature , 2002 .

[58]  J. Bauhus,et al.  Soil Organic Carbon is Increased in Mixed-Species Plantations of Eucalyptus and Nitrogen-Fixing Acacia , 2012, Ecosystems.

[59]  J. Baldock,et al.  Importance of mechanisms and processes of the stabilisation of soil organic matter for modelling carbon turnover. , 2003, Functional plant biology : FPB.

[60]  Ju-ying Jiao,et al.  Assessing the Ecological Success of Restoration by Afforestation on the Chinese Loess Plateau , 2012 .