Characteristics of Decomposition in the Soil Organic Carbon of the Tarim Desert Highway Shelter-belt

Abstract

The Tarim Desert Highway Shelter-belt is in hinterland of the Taklimakan Desert, the decomposition of litter is an important source of the soil nutrients in the shelter-belt. To study the decomposition law of organic carbon after having input the litters into the soil, the decomposition mode of the litters was tested. The organic carbon contents at the soil surface and subsurface of the three kinds of shelter-belt plants were studied in terms of decomposition time, soil depth, and the change of water salinity. The results show that, with the increase of decomposition time and soil depth, the content of soil organic carbon increased; the content of soil organic carbon increased with the increase of salinity of the irrigation water. In terms of the effect of content of the soil organic carbon, Tamarix chinensis > Calligonum mongolicum > Haloxylon ammodendron. With the increase of decomposition time, the content of organic carbon at the soil surface increased, and the fastest increase appeared in the winter and the early spring, The content of organic carbon at the soil subsurface increased the most in the late spring and the summer; with the increase of decomposition time, the content of soil organic carbon was more obvious in different saline water, and the content of soil organic carbon increased with the decreasing salinity of the irrigation water. The results of this study can help to evaluate the potential of the carbon sequestration of the shelter-belt and provide scientific basis for the scientific management of the shelter-belt.