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Full-Text Articles in Forest Sciences
Impacts Of Plant Community Changes On Soil Carbon Contents In Northeastern Illinois, Xiaoyong Chen, Karen D'Arcy
Impacts Of Plant Community Changes On Soil Carbon Contents In Northeastern Illinois, Xiaoyong Chen, Karen D'Arcy
Faculty Research and Creative Activity
Land-cover changes not only affect regional climates through alteration in surface energy and water balance, but also affect key ecological processes, such as carbon (C) cycling and sequestration in plant ecosystems. The object of this study was to investigate the effects of land-cover changes on the distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC) contents under four plant community types (deciduous forests, pine forests, mixed pine-deciduous forests, and prairies) in northeastern Illinois, USA. Soil samples were collected from incremental soil depths (0–10, 10–20, 20–30, and 30–50 cm) under the studied plant communities. The results showed that SOC concentration decreased with increases of …