Substantially Enhanced Landscape Carbon Sink Due To Reduced Terrestrial‐Aquatic Carbon Transfer Through Soil Conservation in the Chinese Loess Plateau

Abstract

<p>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<sup/> year<sup/>, which is comparable to temperate forest in absorbing atmospheric CO<inf/>. Moreover, C burial in reservoirs has created an additional anthropogenic C sink of 2.9 ± 1.1 g C m<sup/> year<sup/>. 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.</p>