Peer Review #1 of "Land use is the main driver of soil organic carbon spatial distribution in a high mountain ecosystem (v0.1)"

Topography-induced microclimate differences determine the local spatial variation of soil characteristics as topographic factors may play the most essential role in changing the climatic pattern. The aim of this study was to investigate the spatial distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC) with respect to the slope gradient and aspect, and to quantify their influence on SOC within different land use/cover classes. The study area is the Region of Niš in Serbia, which is characterized by complex topography with large variability in the spatial distribution of SOC. Soil samples at 0–30 cm and 30–60 cm were collected from different slope gradients and aspects in each of the three land use/cover classes. The results showed that the slope aspect significantly influenced the spatial distribution of SOC in the forest and vineyard soils, where N- and NW-facing soils had the highest level of organic carbon in the topsoil. There were no similar patterns in the uncultivated land. No significant differences were found in the subsoil. Organic carbon content was higher in the topsoil, regardless of the slope of the terrain. The mean SOC content in forest land decreased with increasing slope, but the difference was not statistically significant. In vineyards and uncultivated land, the SOC content was not predominantly determined by the slope gradient. No significant variations across slope gradients were found for all observed soil properties, except for available phosphorus and potassium. A positive correlation was observed between SOC and total nitrogen, clay, silt, and available phosphorus and potassium, while a negative correlation with coarse sand was detected. The slope aspect in relation to different land use/cover classes could provide an important reference for land management strategies in light of sustainable development.

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Topographic Position, Land Use and Soil Management Effects on Soil Organic Carbon (Vineyard Region of Niš, Serbia)

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy11071438 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (7) ◽

pp. 1438

Author(s):

Snežana Jakšić ◽

Jordana Ninkov ◽

Stanko Milić ◽

Jovica Vasin ◽

Milorad Živanov ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Surface Layer ◽

Spatial Distribution ◽

Soil Erosion ◽

Organic Carbon ◽

Soil Organic Carbon ◽

Soil Compaction ◽

Soil Management ◽

Forest Land ◽

Topographic Position

Spatial distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC) is the result of a combination of various factors related to both the natural environment and anthropogenic activities. The aim of this study was to examine (i) the state of SOC in topsoil and subsoil of vineyards compared to the nearest forest, (ii) the influence of soil management on SOC, (iii) the variation in SOC content with topographic position, (iv) the intensity of soil erosion in order to estimate the leaching of SOC from upper to lower topographic positions, and (v) the significance of SOC for the reduction of soil’s susceptibility to compaction. The study area was the vineyard region of Niš, which represents a medium-sized vineyard region in Serbia. About 32% of the total land area is affected, to some degree, by soil erosion. However, according to the mean annual soil loss rate, the total area is classified as having tolerable erosion risk. Land use was shown to be an important factor that controls SOC content. The vineyards contained less SOC than forest land. The SOC content was affected by topographic position. The interactive effect of topographic position and land use on SOC was significant. The SOC of forest land was significantly higher at the upper position than at the middle and lower positions. Spatial distribution of organic carbon in vineyards was not influenced by altitude, but occurred as a consequence of different soil management practices. The deep tillage at 60–80 cm, along with application of organic amendments, showed the potential to preserve SOC in the subsoil and prevent carbon loss from the surface layer. Penetrometric resistance values indicated optimum soil compaction in the surface layer of the soil, while low permeability was observed in deeper layers. Increases in SOC content reduce soil compaction and thus the risk of erosion and landslides. Knowledge of soil carbon distribution as a function of topographic position, land use and soil management is important for sustainable production and climate change mitigation.

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Spatial distribution of soil organic carbon stocks in France

Biogeosciences Discussions ◽

10.5194/bgd-7-8409-2010 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 7 (6) ◽

pp. 8409-8443 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

M. P. Martin ◽

M. Wattenbach ◽

P. Smith ◽

J. Meersmans ◽

C. Jolivet ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Land Use ◽

Spatial Distribution ◽

Organic Carbon ◽

Soil Organic Carbon ◽

Regression Tree ◽

Climatic Variables ◽

Tree Model ◽

Boosted Regression Tree ◽

Regression Tree Model

Abstract. Soil organic carbon plays a major role in the global carbon budget, and can act as a source or a sink of atmospheric carbon, whereby it can influence the course of climate change. Changes in soil organic soil stocks (SOCS) are now taken into account in international negotiations regarding climate change. Consequently, developing sampling schemes and models for estimating the spatial distribution of SOCS is a priority. The French soil monitoring network has been established on a 16 km × 16 km grid and the first sampling campaign has recently been completed, providing circa 2200 measurements of stocks of soil organic carbon, obtained through an in situ composite sampling, uniformly distributed over the French territory. We calibrated a boosted regression tree model on the observed stocks, modelling SOCS as a function of other variables such as climatic parameters, vegetation net primary productivity, soil properties and land use. The calibrated model was evaluated through cross-validation and eventually used for estimating SOCS for the whole of metropolitan France. Two other models were calibrated on forest and agricultural soils separately, in order to assess more precisely the influence of pedo-climatic variables on soil organic carbon for such soils. The boosted regression tree model showed good predictive ability, and enabled quantification of relationships between SOCS and pedo-climatic variables (plus their interactions) over the French territory. These relationship strongly depended on the land use, and more specifically differed between forest soils and cultivated soil. The total estimate of SOCS in France was 3.260 ± 0.872 PgC for the first 30 cm. It was compared to another estimate, based on the previously published European soil organic carbon and bulk density maps, of 5.303 PgC. We demonstrate that the present estimate might better represent the actual SOCS distributions of France, and consequently that the previously published approach at the European level greatly overestimates SOCS.

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Spatial distribution of soil organic carbon stocks in France

Biogeosciences ◽

10.5194/bg-8-1053-2011 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 8 (5) ◽

pp. 1053-1065 ◽

Cited By ~ 155

Author(s):

M. P. Martin ◽

M. Wattenbach ◽

P. Smith ◽

J. Meersmans ◽

C. Jolivet ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Land Use ◽

Spatial Distribution ◽

Organic Carbon ◽

Soil Organic Carbon ◽

Regression Tree ◽

Tree Model ◽

Boosted Regression Tree ◽

Regression Tree Model ◽

Soc Stocks

Abstract. Soil organic carbon plays a major role in the global carbon budget, and can act as a source or a sink of atmospheric carbon, thereby possibly influencing the course of climate change. Changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks are now taken into account in international negotiations regarding climate change. Consequently, developing sampling schemes and models for estimating the spatial distribution of SOC stocks is a priority. The French soil monitoring network has been established on a 16 km × 16 km grid and the first sampling campaign has recently been completed, providing around 2200 measurements of stocks of soil organic carbon, obtained through an in situ composite sampling, uniformly distributed over the French territory. We calibrated a boosted regression tree model on the observed stocks, modelling SOC stocks as a function of other variables such as climatic parameters, vegetation net primary productivity, soil properties and land use. The calibrated model was evaluated through cross-validation and eventually used for estimating SOC stocks for mainland France. Two other models were calibrated on forest and agricultural soils separately, in order to assess more precisely the influence of pedo-climatic variables on SOC for such soils. The boosted regression tree model showed good predictive ability, and enabled quantification of relationships between SOC stocks and pedo-climatic variables (plus their interactions) over the French territory. These relationships strongly depended on the land use, and more specifically, differed between forest soils and cultivated soil. The total estimate of SOC stocks in France was 3.260 ± 0.872 PgC for the first 30 cm. It was compared to another estimate, based on the previously published European soil organic carbon and bulk density maps, of 5.303 PgC. We demonstrate that the present estimate might better represent the actual SOC stock distributions of France, and consequently that the previously published approach at the European level greatly overestimates SOC stocks.

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Land use is the main driver of soil organic carbon spatial distribution in a high mountain ecosystem

PeerJ ◽

10.7717/peerj.7897 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 7 ◽

pp. e7897 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Carmine Fusaro ◽

Yohanna Sarria-Guzmán ◽

Yosef A. Chávez-Romero ◽

Marco Luna-Guido ◽

Ligia C. Muñoz-Arenas ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Spatial Distribution ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Arable Land ◽

High Mountain ◽

Organic C ◽

Mountain Ecosystem ◽

Soc Stock ◽

The Impact ◽

Soc Stocks

Background Terrestrial ecosystems play a significant role in carbon (C) storage. Human activities, such as urbanization, infrastructure, and land use change, can reduce significantly the C stored in the soil. The aim of this research was to measure the spatial variability of soil organic C (SOC) in the national park La Malinche (NPLM) in the central highlands of Mexico as an example of highland ecosystems and to determine the impact of land use change on the SOC stocks through deterministic and geostatistical geographic information system (GIS) based methods. Methods The soil was collected from different landscapes, that is, pine, fir, oak and mixed forests, natural grassland, moor and arable land, and organic C content determined. Different GIS-based deterministic (inverse distance weighting, local polynomial interpolation and radial basis function) and geostatistical interpolation techniques (ordinary kriging, cokriging and empirical Bayes kriging) were used to map the SOC stocks and other environmental variables of the top soil layer. Results All interpolation GIS-based methods described the spatial distribution of SOC of the NPLM satisfactorily. The total SOC stock of the NPLM was 2.45 Tg C with 85.3% in the forest (1.26 Tg C in the A horizon and 0.83 Tg C in the O horizon), 11.4% in the arable soil (0.23 Tg in the A horizon and only 0.05 Tg C in the O horizon) and 3.3% in the high moor (0.07 Tg C in the A horizon and <0.01 Tg C in the O horizon). The estimated total SOC stock in a preserved part of the forest in NPLM was 4.98 Tg C in 1938 and has nearly halved since then. Continuing this trend of converting all the remaining forest to arable land will decrease the total SOC stock to 0.52 Tg C. Discussion Different factors explain the large variations in SOC stocks found in this study but the change in land use (conversion of forests into agricultural lands) was the major reason for the reduction of the SOC stocks in the high mountain ecosystem of the NPLM. Large amounts of C, however, could be stored potentially in this ecosystem if the area was used more sustainable. The information derived from this study could be used to recommend strategies to reverse the SOC loss in NPLM and other high-altitude temperate forests and sequester larger quantities of C. This research can serve as a reference for the analysis of SOC distribution in similar mountain ecosystems in central part of Mexico and in other parts of the world.

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