Increasing aridity, temperature and soil pH induce soil C-N-P imbalance in grasslands.

Due to the different degrees of controls exerted by biological and geochemical processes, climate changes are suggested to uncouple biogeochemical C, N and P cycles, influencing biomass accumulation, decomposition and storage in terrestrial ecosystems. However, the possible extent of such disruption in grassland ecosystems remains unclear, especially in China's steppes which have undergone rapid climate changes with increasing drought and warming predicted moving forward in these dryland ecosystems. Here, we assess how soil C-N-P stoichiometry is affected by climatic change along a 3500-km temperate climate transect in Inner Mongolia, China.

[Profile variability of soil properties in check dam on the Loess Plateau and its functions].

To understand the profile variability of soil properties of check dam and its possibility of engineering control over non-point source pollution, we used classical statistics to characterize the profile change of soil properties of a 5.20 m depth soil profile in the typical check dam on the Loess Plateau. The roles of check dam as organic carbon storage and available nutrients storage were discussed.