Soil Diversity as Affected by Land Use in China: Consequences for Soil Protection

Abstract EN

Rapid land-use change in recent decades in China and its impact on terrestrial biodiversity have been widely studied, particularly at local and regional scales.

However, the effect of land-use change on the diversity of soils that support the terrestrial biological system has rarely been studied.

Here, we report the first effort to assess the impact of land-use change on soil diversity for the entire nation of China.

Soil diversity and land-use effects were analyzed spatially in grids and provinces.

The land-use effects on different soils were uneven.

Anthropogenic soils occupied approximately 12% of the total soil area, which had already replaced the original natural soils.

About 7.5% of the natural soil classes in China were in danger of substantial loss, due to the disturbance of agriculture and construction.

More than 80% of the endangered soils were unprotected due to the overlook of soil diversity.

The protection of soil diversity should be integrated into future conservation activities.