Soil Diversity as Affected by Land Use in China: Consequences for Soil Protection
Shangguan Wei 1， Gong Peng 2,3,4，Liang Lu 2 ，Dai YongJiu1,4，Zhang Keli5
1. State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, College of Global Change and Earth System Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
2. Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling, Center for Earth System Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
3. Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
4. joint Center for Global Change Studies, Beijing 100875, China
5. School of Geography, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Abstract: Rapid land-use change in recent decades in China and its impact on terrestrial biodiversity have been widely studied, particularly at local and regional scales. However, the effect of land-use change on the diversity of soils that support the terrestrial biological system has rarely been studied. Here, we report the first effort to assess the impact of land-use change on soil diversity for the entire nation of China. Soil diversity and land-use effects were analyzed spatially in grids and provinces. The land-use effects on different soils were uneven. Anthropogenic soils occupied approximately 12% of the total soil area, which had already replaced the original natural soils. About 7.5% of the natural soil classes in China were in danger of substantial loss, due to the disturbance of agriculture and construction. More than 80% of the endangered soils were unprotected due to the overlook of soil diversity. The protection of soil diversity should be integrated into future conservation activities.
Published in The Scientific World Journal, doi: org/10.1155/2014/913852
