Cultivationisoneofthemostimportanthumanactivitiesaffectingthegrasslandecosystembesidesgrazing,butitsimpactsonsoiltotalorganiccarbon(C),especiallyontheliableorganicCfractionshavenotbeenfullyunderstoodyet.Inthispaper,theroleofcroppinginsoilorganicCpoolofdifferentfractionswasinvestigatedinameadowstepperegioninInnerMongoliaofChina,andtherelationshipsbetweendifferentCfractionswerealsodiscussed.TheresultsindicatedthattheconcentrationsofdifferentCfractionsatsteppeandcultivatedlandalldecreasedprogressivelywithsoildepth.Aftertheconversionfromsteppetospringwheatfieldfor36years,totalorganiccarbon(TOC)concentrationatthe0to100cmsoildepthhasdecreasedby12.3%to28.2%,andTOCofthesurfacesoilhorizon,especiallythoseof0-30cmdecreasedmoresignificantly(p<0.01).Thedissolvedorganiccarbon(DOC)andmicrobialbiomasscarbon(MBC)atthedepthof0-40cmwerefoundtohavedecreasedby66.7%to77.1%and36.5%to42.4%,respectively.IntheS.baicalensissteppe,theratiosofsoilDOCtoTOCvariedbetween0.52%and0.60%,andthoseinthespringwheatfieldwereonlyintherangeof0.18%-0.20%.Themicrobialquotients(qMBs)inthespringwheatfield,varyingfrom1.11%to1.40%,werealsolowerthanthoseintheS.baicalensissteppe,whichwereintherangeof1.50%-1.63%.ThechangeofDOCwasmuchmoresensitivetocultivationdisturbance.SoilTOC,DOC,andMBCweresignificantlypositivecorrelatedwitheachotherintheS.baicalensissteppe,butinthespringwheatfield,thecorrelativitybetweenDOCandTOCandthatbetweenDOCandMBCdidnotreachthesignificancelevelof0.05.更多还原
