Economics- and policy-driven organic carbon input enhancement dominates soil organic carbon accumulation in Chinese croplands

Abstract

<p id="d13678563e407">Soil organic carbon (C) stock in Chinese croplands increased by about 140 kg C ha ⁻¹ year ⁻¹ from 1980 to 2011. This soil organic C sequestration was largely due to drastic changes in management practices, such as fertilization, tillage, and residue treatments, induced by economic and policy incentives. Our analysis also indicates that excessive N inputs and inability to incorporate residue C into deeper soils will likely constrain the future C sequestration in Chinese croplands. These findings provide new insights into the causes and limitations of economics- and policy-driven soil C sequestration in China and offer some guidance for soil C management in many developing countries that are going through the similar economic and social transformations. </p><p class="first" id="d13678563e416">China’s croplands have experienced drastic changes in management practices, such as fertilization, tillage, and residue treatments, since the 1980s. There is an ongoing debate about the impact of these changes on soil organic carbon (SOC) and its implications. Here we report results from an extensive study that provided direct evidence of cropland SOC sequestration in China. Based on the soil sampling locations recorded by the Second National Soil Survey of China in 1980, we collected 4,060 soil samples in 2011 from 58 counties that represent the typical cropping systems across China. Our results showed that across the country, the average SOC stock in the topsoil (0–20 cm) increased from 28.6 Mg C ha ⁻¹ in 1980 to 32.9 Mg C ha ⁻¹ in 2011, representing a net increase of 140 kg C ha ⁻¹ year ⁻¹. However, the SOC change differed among the major agricultural regions: SOC increased in all major agronomic regions except in Northeast China. The SOC sequestration was largely attributed to increased organic inputs driven by economics and policy: while higher root biomass resulting from enhanced crop productivity by chemical fertilizers predominated before 2000, higher residue inputs following the large-scale implementation of crop straw/stover return policy took over thereafter. The SOC change was negatively related to N inputs in East China, suggesting that the excessive N inputs, plus the shallowness of plow layers, may constrain the future C sequestration in Chinese croplands. Our results indicate that cropland SOC sequestration can be achieved through effectively manipulating economic and policy incentives to farmers. </p>