Chinese scientists have revealed the impact of hydrological changes of soil carbon components in the alpine meadows on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, according to the Northwest Institute of Eco-environment and Resources (NIEER) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

This new study provides a crucial scientific foundation for accurately evaluating the carbon sink functions on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and identifying solutions to mitigate related risks, given the context of climate change, according to the institute.

Conducted by NIEER researchers, the study's findings have been published in the journal Catena.

Given the background of global climate change, the composition and stability of soil organic carbon wetlands have a significant impact on the global carbon cycle, according to Li Yuqiang, a researcher at the NIEER who led the study.

According to Li, microbial necromass carbon and particulate organic carbon play a pivotal role in forming stable and labile soil organic carbon reservoirs.

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is a substantial reservoir of organic carbon. However, in the alpine ecosystem of this plateau, where hydrological conditions vary drastically, there is a limited understanding of how waterlogging affects the composition and stability of soil carbon pools.

The study team set up 27 sampling points along the alpine meadows and wetlands continuum on the plateau.

By measuring indicators such as amino sugars, scientists systematically investigated the effects of a hydrological gradient on microbial necromass carbon and particulate organic carbon accumulation, as well as their contributions to soil organic carbon. They also traced mechanisms in the topsoil and subsoil on the plateau.

Waterlogging increased the total microbial necromass carbon, fungal necromass carbon, and bacterial necromass carbon content in both topsoil and subsoil on the plateau meadow. The proportion of microbial necromass carbon in soil organic carbon remained stable at an average of 32 percent along the alpine grassland-wetland continuum, according to the study.

This new study clarified the variation patterns of soil carbon pool components under waterlogging conditions in the alpine ecosystem of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, according to Li.

"The study showed that although wetland waterlogging could store more soil organic carbon, the proportion of unstable carbon components is higher. It suggests that we find ways to encounter the possible risks of soil carbon pool loss in this region under the conditions caused by future climate warming and wetland degradation," said Li.