Regional Differences and Characteristics of Soil Organic Carbon Density Between Dry Land and Paddy Field in China

Study on the regional characteristics of soil organic carbon (SOC) density in farmland will not only contribute greatly to the technique of soil productivity enhancement, but also give evidences of technique selection and policy making for carbon sequestration in soils. Based on the second national soil survey of China, the situation of SOC density in the plow layer of farmland was analyzed under different land use patterns. Results showed that SOC density in the plow layer was about 3.15 kg m-2 in average ranging from 0.81 to 12.68 kg m-2. The highest density was found in the southeastern region with an average of 3.63 kg m-2, while the lowest occurring in the northwestern region with an average of 3.00 kg m-2. The variation coefficient of SOC density in the plow layer of farmland was 57%, which was 35% lower than that of non-farmland soils. Compared to SOC density in the dry land, SOC density in paddy soils was 13% higher with a lower variation coefficient between different regions. In addition, the relationships between the climatic factors (annual average temperature and precipitation) and SOC density were lower in farmland than those in non-farmland soils, as well as lower in paddy soils than those in dry land of farmland. These results suggest that anthropogenic disturbances have great impacts on SOC density in farmland soils, especially in paddy soils, indicating that Chinese rice cropping may contribute greatly to the SOC stability and sequestration in paddy field.