Soil Organic Carbon Dynamics and Driving Factors in Typical Cultivated Land on the Karst Plateau

Abstract

Due to the impacts of unwise industrial agriculture, extreme precipitation events are increasing in frequency and are accelerating the process of global warming in the karst area. The dynamic change in soil organic carbon (SOC) and its driving factors in cultivated land in the last 35 years were studied by using data from the second national soil survey of China and measurements made in 2015. The results indicated that the SOC per unit area of cultivated land increased by 32.45 × 103 t in the last 35 years in the study area, exhibiting basically the same levels and a slight increasing trend, and the annual average change rate was 0.02 kg C·hm−2·a−1. In terms of spatial distribution, carbon loss areas were mainly concentrated in the middle northern region, western region, and scattered eastern regions of the county. The main factors affecting the change in SOC in the cultivated land in the study area in the last 35 years include nitrogen fertilizer application, stubble, soil thickness, soil total nitrogen, C/N, rock coverage, gravel content, soil organic carbon density (SOCD1980), etc. This study will provide a database for the management of SOC in cultivated land in the future.