摘要：Land-use change is widely considered to be a major factor affecting soil carbon (C) sequestration (ΔC s ). This paper studied changes to soil C stocks (C s ) following the conversion of farmland to forest, shrub and grassland across the key area for implementing China's “Grain for Green” — the Loess Plateau. The results are based on a synthesis of 44 recent publications (including 424 observations at 70 sites) which has allowed us to further refine our understanding of the mechanisms driving the increase in C s following farmland conversion. This synthesis suggests that the ΔC s potential of the Loess Plateau could reach 0.59 Tg yr−1 based on an estimated annual average ΔC s rate of 0.29 Mg ha−1 yr−1. In the region's different rainfall zones both the main contributing factors and C s dynamics varied. Across the entire Loess Plateau, C s showed first an increasing ( 10 yr) yet again. In addition, the ΔC s rates depended primarily on restoration age. This synthesis demonstrates that both the initial s C s and the average annual temperature have a significant effect on ΔC s while the effect of land-use conversion type, rainfall zone, and average annual precipitation were minimal.
