1. Substantially Enhanced Landscape Carbon Sink Due To Reduced Terrestrial‐Aquatic Carbon Transfer Through Soil Conservation in the Chinese Loess Plateau.
- Author
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Ran, Lishan, Fang, Nufang, Wang, Xuhui, Piao, Shilong, Chan, Chun Ngai, Li, Siliang, Zeng, Yi, Shi, Zhihua, Tian, Mingyang, Xu, Yi‐jun, Qi, Junyu, and Liu, Boyi
- Subjects
SOIL conservation ,CARBON cycle ,PLATEAUS ,SOIL erosion ,ATMOSPHERIC carbon dioxide ,LANDSCAPE assessment ,GREENHOUSE gases - Abstract
Soil conservation is of global importance, as accelerated soil erosion by human activity is a primary threat to ecosystem viability. However, the significance and role of soil conservation in reshaping landscape carbon (C) accounting has not been comprehensively integrated in the terrestrial C sink. Here, we present the first integrated assessment of the modified terrestrial C sink and aquatic C transport due to soil conservation for the semiarid Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP), the world's most vulnerable region to soil erosion. We show a surprisingly low terrestrial‐aquatic C transfer that offset the terrestrial net ecosystem productivity by only 7.5%, which we attribute to the effective implementation of soil conservation practices. Despite the highest soil erosion, the semiarid CLP acts as effective C sink at 43.2 ± 22.6 g C m−2 year−1, which is comparable to temperate forest in absorbing atmospheric CO2. Moreover, C burial in reservoirs has created an additional anthropogenic C sink of 2.9 ± 1.1 g C m−2 year−1. Our findings indicate that effective soil conservation can significantly increase landscape C sequestration capacity. The co‐benefits of soil conservation in erosion control and C sequestration have important implications for policy makers in other regions undergoing increasing erosion intensity to pursue environmental sustainability. Plain Language Summary: Aquatic export of terrestrial carbon (C) plays a significant role in modulating the magnitude of terrestrial C sink. Previous estimates of terrestrial C sink may be overestimated because not all C losses across heterogeneous landscapes are accurately determined and properly accounted for. This is particularly possible for catchments with high erosion and terrestrial‐aquatic C transfer potential. Meanwhile, soil conservation can greatly modify landscape C sequestration capacity. Thus, a more comprehensive assessment of net landscape C budget is needed that integrates aquatic export of terrestrial C while considering the role and significance of soil conservation. For the Chinese Loess Plateau in semiarid climates that once characterized the world's high soil erosion rate, we show a surprisingly low aquatic C transfer that offset the terrestrial C sink by only 7.5%, due largely to successful soil conservation in the past decades. Our findings suggest that effective implementation of soil conservation practices can substantially reduce terrestrial‐aquatic C transfer and enhance the landscape C sequestration capacity. Key Points: The magnitude of terrestrial‐aquatic C transfer in influencing landscape‐scale C balance on the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP) is assessedThe low reduction of terrestrial C sink by terrestrial‐aquatic C transfer on the CLP is largely due to soil conservationEffective implementation of soil conservation can substantially reduce terrestrial‐aquatic C transfer and enhance landscape C sink capacity [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
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