Impact of land use change on profile distributions of organic carbon fractions in peat and mineral soils in Northeast China

The impact of land use on the content of labile soil organic carbon (SOC) has been studied well. However, limited information is known about its effect on the recalcitrant SOC pool, which is a key proxy for long-term carbon sequestration. We investigated the impact of land use change on the distribution of labile and recalcitrant SOC fractions in soil profiles (0–30cm) in the Jinchuan peatland, Northeast China, where native peatland (with peat soil) and forest (with mineral soil) are converted to paddy and cropland, respectively. Peat and mineral soil profile samples were collected from 10 sites in native and cultivated land. Total organic carbon (TOC) and KMnO4-oxidizable carbon (KOC) defined as the labile SOC fraction were measured in both peat and mineral soils. Fibre and lignin were also determined in peat samples. The mineral-associated organic carbon (MOC) and black carbon were examined as two recalcitrant SOC fractions. In peat soil profiles, the TOC and KOC contents increased with the increasing depth across all land uses. The conversion of peatland to paddy field can affect TOC content at each peat soil depth. The KOC content was lower in cultivated soils, indicating that cultivation decreased KOC. The KOC decrease was smaller than the TOC decrease, indicating that some recalcitrant SOC fractions were decomposed because of land use change. Unlike peat soil profiles, the TOC and KOC contents decreased with depth in mineral soil profiles across all land uses. The TOC and KOC contents in surface soil decreased remarkably after cultivation to cropland but were not affected in deep soil. Interestingly, recalcitrant SOC fractions, such as MOC, increased in mineral soil profile after cultivation but showed no change in peat soil profile. This study suggests that conversion of peatland to paddy can release the recalcitrant SOC fraction. In addition, conversion of cultivated forest to cropland decreased the TOC content but prolonged the long-term storage of some recalcitrant SOC fractions, such as MOC.