10.1007/s11368-011-0388-6

Purpose Small but highly bioactive labile carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) pools are of great importance in controlling terrestrial C and N fluxes, whilst long-term C and N storage is determined by less labile but relatively large sizes of C and N pools. Little information is available about the effects of global warming and grazing on different forms of C and N pools in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau of China. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of warming and grazing on the sizes of different soil labile C and N pools and N transformation in this region.