Changes in soil carbon stocks and related soil proper-ties along a 50-year grassland-to-cropland conversion chronosequence in an agro-pastoral ecotone of Inner Mongolia, China

TL;DRAbstract

Land use change significantly influences soil properties.There is little information available on the long-term effects of post-reclamation from grassland to cropland on soil properties.We compared soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) storage and related soil properties in a 50-year cultivation chronosequence of grassland in the agro-pastoral ecotone of Inner Mongolia.Field surveys on land use changes during the period of 1955-2002 were conducted to build a chronosequence of cropland of different ages since the conversion from grassland.The results showed that soil C and N storage, soil texture, and soil nutrient contents varied with land use types and cropland ages (P<0.01).In the 0-30 cm soil layer, the soil organic carbon (SOC) density was significantly lower in the croplands (3.28 kg C/m 2 for C50 soil) than in the grasslands (6.32 kg C/m 2 ).After 5, 10, 15, 20, 35, and 50 years of crop planting (years since the onset of cultivation), the SOC losses were 17%, 12%, 19%, 47%, 46%, and 4

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