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Scientia Silvae Sinicae ›› 2023, Vol. 59 ›› Issue (10): 41-49.doi: 10.11707/j.1001-7488.LYKX20220006

• Research papers • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Edge Effect of Pinus massoniana Forest Converted into Tea Plantation on Topsoil Carbon Content in Wuyishan National Park

Weibin You1,2,*(),Ying Li1,2,Yan Zhou3,Dongjin He1,2,4   

  1. 1. College of Forestry, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University Fuzhou 350002
    2. Research Center for Southern Forest Resources and Environment Engineering Technology of Fujian Province Fuzhou 350002
    3. Wuyishan National Park Research and Monitoring Center Wuyishan 354300
    4. Fujian Vocational College of Agriculture Fuzhou 350119
  • Received:2022-01-05 Online:2023-10-25 Published:2023-11-01
  • Contact: Weibin You E-mail:wbyou@fafu.edu.cn

Abstract:

Objective: This study aims to explore the impact of land-use/land-cover (LULC) changes on soil carbon sink and its stability in the conversion of Pinus massoniana forests to tea gardens, clarify the role of forest edge formation on forest soil carbon content, and provide a scientific foundation for accurate estimation of forest soil carbon storage and carbon sequestration. Method: The study was conducted in a P. massoniana forest with the area partially converted to tea plantations in Wuyishan National Park. The soil carbon components in the topsoil (0·20 cm) collected from the forest at the locations of 1, 20 and 50 m distances from the edge shared by the two land use types, including the total organic carbon (TOC), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and microbial biomass carbon (MBC) were analyzed. Result: After 16 to 28 years of converting P. massoniana forest into tea plantation, the TOC, DOC and MBC contents reduced by 57.1%, 48.8% and 16.9%, respectively, compared to the original P. massoniana forest. The TOC and DOC gradually decreased from the interior of P. massoniana forest to the forest-tea edge. However, no significant difference was found for the MBC at those locations (P>0.1). The TOC content was 31.08, 30.67, 22.26 and 13.25 g·kg?1 at the locations of 50, 20 and 1 m distance from the forest-tea edge and adjacent tea plantation, respectively. The DOC content was 269.7, 259.8, 226.5 and 135.5 mg·kg?1 at the same location gradient above. The TOC and DOC were able to be well-fitted with explanatory variables (topsoil physical and chemical properties, LULC, and boundary age) by the stepwise regression equation, with independent variables explaining 87.5% and 76.6% of their respective variations, respectively. Nonetheless, MBC provided the poorest fitting. Specifically, TOC and DOC were affected by variables of soil nitrogen compositions and LULC. Boundary age only had effect on the DOC content. Conclusion: The LULC conversion of P. massoniana forest to tea plantation leads to the decrease of topsoil carbon content (particularly TOC and DOC) , while the carbon loss magnitude reduces with the increasing distance to forest edge. Thus, the forest edge effects of soil carbon content need to be considered to reduce uncertainty in the estimation of forest soil carbon sinks on a landscape scale.

Key words: soil organic carbon, dissolved organic carbon, forest carbon sink, edge effect, land-use and land-cover change

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