Vertical distribution characteristics of soil organic carbon content in Caohai wetland ecosystem of Guizhou plateau, China

We selected four kinds of land use types from Caohai wetlands of Guizhou plateau (a total number of 32 soil profiles) to study the distribution characteristics of organic carbon content in soil. With different ways of land use, the organic carbon content of soil profiles and organic carbon density show the tendency of decreasing firstly and then increasing from top to bottom. With the increase of depth, the vertical difference becomes smaller first and then starts increasing. Land reclamation reduces the soil organic carbon content and density, changing its distribution structure in topsoil. The average content of organic carbon in Caohai wetlands are as follows: lake bed silt > marsh wetland > farmland > woodland, the average organic carbon content of lake bed silt, marsh wetland, farmland and woodland are 16.40, 2.94, 1.81 and 1.08 %, respectively. Land reclamation reduces the organic carbon content of soil, therefore the conversion of cultivated lands to wetlands and the increase of forest coverage will help to fix the organic carbon in soil and increase its reserves.