Characteristics of soil organic carbon and its fractions in subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forests along an urbanization gradient.

Abstract

Subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forests were selected along an urban (Guangzhou) - suburban (Dinghushan) - rural (Huaiji) gradient in the Pearl River Delta, from which soil samples in different layers were collected. The changes in total organic carbon (TOC), recalcitrant organic carbon (ROC), and active organic carbon (AOC) including readily oxidizable organic carbon (ROOC), microbial biomass carbon (MBC), and water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) of samples were examined along this urbanization gradient to reveal the influence of urbanization on forest soil organic carbon. Results showed that no significant differences in both TOC and ROC contents were observed in 0-5 cm soil layer along the gradient. In 5-60 cm soil layer, the TOC content was significantly higher in the rural forest than that in the suburban and urban forests, the ROC content was the highest in the suburban forest and no significant difference was observed between the urban and rural forests. The ROOC content was significantly lower in the suburban forest than in the rural (0-60 cm soil layer) and urban (0-10 cm soil layer) forests. The MBC content was significantly lower in the urban forest than that in the suburban and rural forests. The suburban forest had significantly lower WSOC than the urban forest (0-10 cm soil layer). In 0-20 cm layer, the percentage of AOC to TOC of the urban and rural forests was significantly higher than those of the suburban forest, while the percentage of ROC to TOC was the lowest in the rural forest. The significant difference in the percentage of ROC to TOC was only observed in 5-10 cm depth layer between the suburban and urban forests. The results indicated that urbanization increased the active components of soil organic carbon and reduced the stable ones, which could be detrimental to organic carbon accumulation in soils. The rural forest soils were more sensitive to the urbanization.