Ecological restoration enhances dryland carbon stock by reducing surface soil carbon loss due to wind erosion.

ABSTRACT: Enhancing terrestrial carbon (C) stock through ecological restoration, one of the prominent approaches for natural climate solutions, is conventionally considered to be achieved through an ecological pathway, i.e., increased plant C uptake. By conducting a comprehensive regional survey of 4279 1 × 1 m² plots at 517 sites across China's drylands and a 13-y manipulative experiment in a semiarid grassland within the same region, we show that greater soil and ecosystem C stocks in restored than degraded lands result predominantly from decreased surface soil C loss via suppressed wind erosion. This biophysical pathway is always overlooked in model evaluation of land-based C mitigation strategies. Surprisingly, stimulated plant growth plays a minor role in regulating C stocks under ec

SUBMITTER: Song J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11573679 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature