Natural grasslands converted to afforested lands and abandoned lands decreasing soil carbon stability and storage, respectively, in the China's Loess Plateau.

ABSTRACT: Active particulate organic carbon (POC) and inert mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC) play critical roles in regulating and predicting global climate change. However, our understanding remains limited regarding how land-use changes differentially affect these two carbon fractions and their underlying driving mechanisms. In this study, we applied a physical fractionation approach to examine changes in the carbon content and mass fractions of particulate organic matter (POM) and mineral-associated organic matter (MAOM) following the conversion of grasslands to forested or abandoned lands on the Chinese Loess Plateau. This work provides the first systematic quantification of the trade-offs among different land-use types with respect to distinct soil carbon fractions in this region. The r

SUBMITTER: Zhong Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12626324 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature