The influence of reclamation on the vertical distribution of soil organic carbon content in Calamagrostis angustifolia wetland

Abstract

To investigate how reclamation impacts the vertical distribution of SOC (soil organic carbon) content in soil profile of C. angustifolia wetland, 90 soil samples were sampled in 10 cm interval (0–100 cm depth) in C. angustifolia wetland, soybean and paddy field. The soybean and paddy field were reclaimed from C. angustifolia wetland. All these three sites have meadow albic soil. The results showed that wetland reclamation reduced the SOC content at all 10 soil layers within 100 cm depth soil profile. Difference in SOC contents between wetland and farmland was significant at 0–30 cm and 60–100 cm soil layers, but not significant at 30–60 cm soil layers. Compared with soybean field, the SOC content in upper 20 cm soil layers was more homogeneous in paddy field. Though wetland reclamation reduced the SOC content, it hasn't changed the regularity of SOC vertical distribution. The changes of SOC content with soil depth in C. angustifolia wetland, soybean and paddy field all can be described by specific exponential function. Which are useful to estimate and predict the regional SOC pool by models.