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Exploring How Human Activities Affect Soil Organic Carbon

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Anthropogenic Circularity".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 June 2023) | Viewed by 4117

Special Issue Editor

School of Ecology and Environment, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu 241000, China
Interests: soil organic carbon; soil microbial ecology; soil remediation; soil tillage

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Soil organic carbon (SOC) plays a critical role in the global carbon cycle and has a profound effect on climate change. Soil has great potential to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions with appropriate mitigation practices. Determining how to explore soil carbon sink functions with appropriate management practices is important for global change mitigation. A large body of research has focused on SOC, including its variants, impact factors, change mechanisms, and management. However, soil is a very complex system, and SOC pools are affected by multiple factors, including climate change, soil management, land use changes, etc. There are still some areas that lack adequate research. We still lack a comprehensive understanding of SOC at the macroscopic level under various influences, as well as an in-depth understanding of the underlying mechanisms of SOC turnover at the microscopic level. Recently, with technological advances including model simulations, automatic monitoring, molecular techniques, etc., we can further explore how SOC changes under human activity. The present issue aims to bring together relevant high-quality articles focusing on the latest developments related to many different aspects of SOC under the influence of human activity. Topics will include but are not limited to the following: SOC of different ecosystems such as cultivated soil, grassland, forest, wetland, etc.; effects of different land use changes such as ecosystem degradation, ecosystem restoration, deforestation, forestation, agricultural cultivation, agricultural abandonment, etc.; effects of different management practices such as fertilization, litter input, tillage, soil amendment, grazing, forest harvesting, etc.

Dr. Shangqi Xu
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • land use change
  • soil management
  • cultivated land
  • carbon sequestration
  • carbon emission

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 3440 KiB  
Article
Identifying Anthropogenic Sources of Heavy Metals in Alpine Peatlands over the Past 150 Years: Examples from Typical Peatlands in Altay Mountains, Northwest China
by Nana Luo, Rui Yu, Bolong Wen, Xiaoyu Li, Xingtu Liu and Xiujun Li
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(6), 5013; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20065013 - 12 Mar 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1625
Abstract
Alpine mountain peatlands are valuable archives of climatic and anthropogenic impact. However, the impacts of human activities on the Altay peatlands are poorly documented. Therefore, studying heavy metal (HM) concentrations, evaluating HM pollution levels, and identifying the sources in the Altay Mountain peatlands [...] Read more.
Alpine mountain peatlands are valuable archives of climatic and anthropogenic impact. However, the impacts of human activities on the Altay peatlands are poorly documented. Therefore, studying heavy metal (HM) concentrations, evaluating HM pollution levels, and identifying the sources in the Altay Mountain peatlands are crucial for revealing the intensity of human activities. The present study was performed on two peatland profiles: Jiadengyu (JDY) and Heihu (HH). The contents of HM and 210Pb and 137Cs dating technologies were used to construct a profile of anthropogenic pollutant distributions in the peatlands. Furthermore, the enrichment factor (EF) and geo-accumulation index (Igeo) of selected HMs were used to evaluate the risk assessment of HMs. The association of metals and assignment of their probable sources were examined using principal component analysis (PCA) and a positive matrix factorization model (PMF). The results showed that the concentrations of elements Cu, Zn, Cr, Pb, Ni, and As were at high levels in the two peatlands of the Altay Mountains, while the elements Hg and Cd were in low concentrations. Moreover, the concentrations of Cu, Cd, Hg, and Sb were higher than the background values of local element and posed a high environmental risk to the ecosystem. Combined with the results of the chronology, the peatland records indicated considerable growth in HMs concentrations from 1970 to 1990 related to recent anthropogenic activities. Additionally, the main sources of HMs are mining activities, domestic waste, and traffic sources in the two peatlands. Due to the environmental protection policies implemented since 2010, the natural processes have been the primary origin of HMs in peatlands, while emissions of industrial, agricultural, and domestic waste were still fundamental sources. The results of this study describe the sedimentary features of HMs in alpine mountains, and the data provide an essential theoretical basis for the evolutionary process through the characteristics of HM deposition. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring How Human Activities Affect Soil Organic Carbon)
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14 pages, 1645 KiB  
Article
Biochar Blended with Nitrogen Fertilizer Promotes Maize Yield by Altering Soil Enzyme Activities and Organic Carbon Content in Black Soil
by Jing Sun, Xinrui Lu, Shuang Wang, Chunjie Tian, Guoshuang Chen, Nana Luo, Qilin Zhang and Xiujun Li
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(6), 4939; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20064939 - 10 Mar 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2153
Abstract
Biochar and nitrogen fertilizers are known to increase soil carbon storage and reduce soil nitrogen loss as amendments, suggesting a promising strategy for highly effectively increasing soil productivity. However, few studies have explored the mechanisms of their effects on crop yield in terms [...] Read more.
Biochar and nitrogen fertilizers are known to increase soil carbon storage and reduce soil nitrogen loss as amendments, suggesting a promising strategy for highly effectively increasing soil productivity. However, few studies have explored the mechanisms of their effects on crop yield in terms of active carbon fraction and enzyme activity, which ultimately limits the potential for the application of biochar in combination with nitrogen fertilizers. To evaluate the effect of biochar and nitrogen fertilizer on the improvement of black soils in northeast China, a field experiment was conducted in the black soil to compare and analyze the application methods on total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), enzyme activities, and maize yields. Biochar rates: CK, C1, C2, and C3 (0, 9.8, 19.6, and 29.4 Mg·ha−1); N fertilizer rates: N1/2 and N (30 and 60 kg·ha−1). Results indicated that biochar and N fertilizer amendments significantly ameliorated soil fertility, such as TOC and TN, compared to the unamended soil. The TOC levels in the C3 treatment increased by 35.18% and the TN levels by 23.95%. The improvement in TN is more significant when biochar is blended with N fertilizer. Biochar blended with N fertilizer increased maize cellulase, urease, and invertase activities by an average of 53.12%, 58.13%, and 16.54%, respectively. Redundancy analysis showed that TOC, TN, and MBN contributed 42%, 16.2%, and 22.2%, respectively, to the maize yield indicator. Principal component analysis showed that reduced N fertilizer was more effective in improving yields, with a maximum yield increase of 50.74%. Biochar blended with N fertilizer is an effective strategy to improve the fertility and productivity of black soils in northeast China, while nitrogen fertilizer reduction is feasible and necessary for maintaining grain yield. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring How Human Activities Affect Soil Organic Carbon)
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