Carbon Sequestration Anticipation Response to land use change in a mountainous karst basin in China

Abstract

The present article reports an assessment of afforestation potential and anticipation of carbon sequestration in the Houzhai River Basin in Guizhou Province in southwestern China. Total of 2755 soil profiles consisting of 22,057 soil samples were collected according to a grid-sampling method at a 150 m scale in the Houzhai River basin, and the SOC contents in soil samples were analyzed using a titration method. General information regarding the geographic characteristics of each sampling grid was recorded in the field. The results indicate that land use in the Houzhai River Basin is very complex. Land use status and land use change in the study area were closely associated with local geographic characteristics and variations in economic structures. There were approximately 15.26 km2 of land that could or should be rearranged as afforestation land in the Houzhai River Basin. The increased SOC storage (0.00–1.00 m soil horizon) would be up to 5.48 × 104 Mg, 6.42 × 104 Mg, 4.77 × 104 Mg and 3.18 × 104 Mg when all of the calculated lands became shrub-grass lands, shrub lands, arbor-shrub forest lands and arbor forest lands, respectively. The increased SOC percentages would be 52.16%, 61.13%, 45.39% and 30.32%, respectively, in comparison with the present SOC storage in these lands.