wAbstract
@Grazing exclusion (GE) can increase the carbon (C) storage of
semiarid grasslands in China; however, little is known about the
effect of long-term GE on the C storage of soil fractions. On
the basis of a chronosequence of grassland restoration from free
grazing (FG) to 28-year GE, we investigated the dynamics of total
C and N in soil fractions in order to assess the impact of long-term
GE on the soil fractions. The results revealed that long-term
GE had a marked impact on soil particle-size fractions and their
total C and N concentrations. The C associated with sand and clay
in the 0-10 cm soil layer exhibited a significant logarithmic
increase as period of GE increases. The increase in C storage
with the introduction of Ge was considerable, especially in the
sand and clay fraction of 0-10 cm soil layer. The C:N ratios of
the whole soil and of the sand and silt increased significantly
with grassland restoration. Considering the accumulation of total
C in the whole soil and soil fractions and their logarithmic increase
during the GE chronosequence, we suggest that by implementing
GE, the temperature grasslands of northern China could facilitate
significant C storage on decade scales; however, when subjected
to GE for 2 decades or more, these grassland soils would have
a lower potential to further accumulate the C newly derived from
litter and dead roots.
Keywords: C:N ration; Grazing exclusion; Particle-size fraction;
Semiarid grassland; Carbonx
1. Introduction
2. Materials and methods
@2.1. Study area
@2.2. Site selection and soil sampling
@2.3. Particle-size fractionation and chemical analysis
@2.4. Calculations and statistics analysis
3. Results
@3.1. Particle-size distribution
@3.2. C concentration and storage in soil fractions
@3.3. N concentration and storage in soil fractions
@3.4. Changes in the C:N ratios of soil fractions
@3.5. Relationship between C and N concentration and the amount
of clay plus silt
4. Discussion and conclusion
Acknowledgments
References