Impact of land use/cover changes on carbon storage in a river valley in arid areas of Northwest China

Soil carbon pools could become a CO_2 source or sink, depending on the directions of land use/cover changes. A slight change of soil carbon will inevitably affect the atmospheric CO_2 concentration and consequently the climate. Based on the data from 127 soil sample sites, 48 vegetation survey plots, and Landsat TM images, we analyzed the land use/cover changes, estimated soil organic carbon（SOC） storage and vegetation carbon storage of grassland, and discussed the impact of grassland changes on carbon storage during 2000 to 2013 in the Ili River Valley of Northwest China. The results indicate that the areal extents of forestland, shrubland, moderate-coverage grassland（MCG）, and the waterbody（including glaciers） decreased while the areal extents of high-coverage grassland（HCG）,low-coverage grassland（LCG）, residential and industrial land, and cultivated land increased. The grassland SOC density in 0–100 cm depth varied with the coverage in a descending order of HCG〉MCG〉LCG.The regional grassland SOC storage in the depth of 0–100 cm in 2013 increased by 0.25×1011 kg compared with that in 2000. The regional vegetation carbon storage（S_（rvc）） of grassland was 5.27×10~9 kg in2013 and decreased by 15.7% compared to that in 2000. The vegetation carbon reserves of the under-ground parts of vegetation（S_（ruvb）） in 2013 was 0.68×10~9 kg and increased by approximately 19.01%compared to that in 2000. This research can improve our understanding about the impact of land use/cover changes on the carbon storage in arid areas of Northwest China.

Ecological Compensation and the Cost of Wildlife Conservation: Chang Tang Grasslands, Tibet

The cost of ecological and environmental protection is a core part of ecological compensation standards and consists of direct costs, opportunity costs and development. This paper uses Naqu, a section of the Chang Tang Nature Reserve, Tibet as a case study to assess direct and opportunity costs of wildlife conservation to herdsmen. A standard sheep unit has been established for determining the animal carrying capacity of grasslands across China, and we used this to convert wild animals into standard sheep units. This approach links the grassland ecosystem, herbivorous wild animals and their valuation together. Our results show that the total cost of wildlife conservation reached 5.69 billion Chinese Yuan （CNY）. The opportunity cost was 4.5 billion CNY, accounting for 79% and direct cost. The biggest economic loss to herdsmen was the opportunity cost in Chang Tang Nature Reserve and means that herdsmen have to give up economic income from livestock husbandry when grazing is banned. Opportunity cost assessment is integral to establishing ecological compensation. The average value of wildlife conservation was 1482 CNY per capita and 57 CNY per hectare according to population and the area of moderately and seriously degraded grassland. The period of ecological compensation should last five to ten years after grazing is banned.

Detecting the storage and change on topsoil organic carbon in grasslands of Inner Mongolia from 1980s to 2010s

Soil carbon sequestration and potential has been a focal issue in global carbon research. Under the background of global change, the estimation of the size as well as its change of soil organic carbon（SOC） storage is of great importance. Based on soil data from the second national soil survey and field survey during 2011–2012, by using the regression method between sampling soil data and remote sensing data, this paper aimed to investigate spatial distribution and changes of topsoil（0–20 cm） organic carbon storage in grasslands of Inner Mongolia between the 1980 s and 2010 s. The results showed that：（1） the SOC storage in grasslands of Inner Mongolia between the 1980 s and 2010 s was estimated to be 2.05 and 2.17 Pg C, with an average density of 3.48 and 3.69 kg C·m–2, respectively. The SOC storage was mainly distributed in the typical steppe and meadow steppe, which accounted for over 98% of the total SOC storage. The spatial distribution showed a decreased trend from the meadow steppe, typical steppe to the desert steppe, corresponding to the temperature and precipitation gradient.（2） SOC changes during 1982–2012 were estimated to be 0.12 Pg C, at 7.00 g C·m–2·yr–1, which didn＇t show a significant change, indicating that SOC storage in grasslands of Inner Mongolia remained relatively stable over this period. However, topsoil organic carbon showed different trends of carbon source/sink during the past three decades. Meadow steppe and typical steppe had sequestered 0.15 and 0.03 Pg C, respectively, served as a carbon sink; while desert steppe lost 0.06 Pg C, served as a carbon source. It appears that SOC storage in grassland ecosystem may respond differently to climate change, related to vegetation type, regional climate type and grazing intensity. These results might give advice to decision makers on adopting suitable countermeasures for sustainable grassland utilization and protection.