Effects of Forest and Agriculture Land Covers on Organic Carbon Flux Mediated through Precipitation

Gang-Sun Kim,Woo-Kyun Lee,Young-Jin Ko,Mina Hong,Eunbeen Park,Sle-Gee Lee,Jongyeol Lee,Cholho Song

doi:10.3390/w14040623

Gang-Sun Kim, Woo-Kyun Lee + Show 6 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/w14040623

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Abstract

Carbon stored on land is discharged into rivers through water flow, which is an important mechanism for energy transfer from land to river ecosystems. The goal of this study was to identify the relationship between land cover and carbon flux mediated through precipitation. In order to clarify the general relationship, research was conducted on a range of national scales. Eighty-two watershed samples from an area where the urban land cover area was less than 10% and with a water-quality measurement point at an outlet were delineated. Carbon flux and soil organic carbon of the watershed was estimated using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool model, Forest Biomass and Dead Organic Matter Carbon model, and other data. Finally, the data were analyzed to determine the relationship between soil organic carbon and carbon flux. As a result, it was concluded that the carbon flux of the watershed increased with increasing area of the watershed. Under the same area condition, it was revealed that the greater the forest soil organic carbon, the less the carbon flux released from the watershed. Through this study, it was observed that as the above-ground biomass of forest increased, the carbon flux from watershed to river outlet decreased logarithmically.

Highlights

Accepted: 10 February 2022Carbon is one of the most important elements in the ecosystem
The flow rate of the rivers was derived from the watershed; it was clear that the larger the watershed area, the larger the carbon flux of the watershed
The carbon flux tended to increase as the SOC increased because the larger the area of the watershed, the greater the amounts of SOC stored in the watershed, and the greater the amount of runoff from the watershed

Summary

Introduction

Accepted: 10 February 2022Carbon is one of the most important elements in the ecosystem. Ecosystems consist of carbon, and ecosystem energy is transferred in the form of carbon [1]. Plants absorb carbon through photosynthesis, and this forms the basis of terrestrial ecosystems. Some portion of the carbon stored on land is transferred to rivers and this contributes to forming the basis of river ecosystems [2]. Organic carbon transportation in the direction of landriver-ocean is one of the major components of the global carbon cycle, and is an important material circulation mechanism of ecosystems, eventually affecting marine ecosystem biodiversity [3]. Carbon flux, which is the amount of carbon released from land to rivers during specific times, can be measured at the catchment (watershed) outlet. The carbon in the watershed flows into the rivers, and the carbon that flows into the rivers flows out into the ocean through estuaries [2]. To estimate the amount of carbon released through water, much weather data and complex hydrological models are generally required

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