{"type": "FeatureCollection", "features": [{"id": "10.1016/j.geoderma.2012.01.038", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-04-13T16:16:40Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2012-03-11", "title": "Land Degradation Impact On Soil Carbon Losses Through Water Erosion And Co2 Emissions", "description": "Abstract   Worldwide concerns with global change and its effects on our future environment require an improved understanding of the impact of land cover changes on the global C cycle. Overgrazing causes a reduction in plant cover with accepted consequences on soil infiltration and soil erosion, yet the impact on the loss of soil organic carbon (SOC) and its associated processes remain unaccounted for. In this study performed in South Africa, our main objective was to evaluate the impact of plant cover reduction on (i) SOC erosion by water in both particulate (POC) and dissolved (DOC) forms, and (ii) soil CO 2  emissions to the atmosphere. The study performed under sandy-loam Acrisols investigated three proportions of soil surface coverage by plants (Cov), from 100% (Cov100) for the \u201cnon-degraded\u201d treatment to 25\u201350% (Cov50) and 0\u20135% (Cov5). POC and DOC losses were evaluated using an artificial rainfall of 30\u00a0mm\u00a0h \u2212\u00a01  applied for a period of 30\u00a0min on bounded 1\u00a0\u00d7\u00a01\u00a0m\u00b2 microplots (n\u00a0=\u00a03 per treatment). CO 2  emissions from undisturbed soil samples (n\u00a0=\u00a09) were evaluated continuously at the laboratory over a 6-month period. At the \u201cnon-degraded\u201d treatment of Cov100, plant-C inputs to the soil profile were 1950\u00a0\u00b1\u00a0180\u00a0gC\u00a0m \u2212\u00a02 \u00a0y \u2212\u00a01  and SOC stocks in the 0\u20130.02\u00a0m layer were 300.6\u00a0\u00b1\u00a016.2\u00a0gC\u00a0m \u2212\u00a02 . While soil-C inputs by plants significantly (P\u00a0 \u2212\u00a02  at Cov100 increased from 66% at Cov50 (i.e. 3.76\u00a0\u00b1\u00a01.8\u00a0gC\u00a0m \u2212\u00a02 ) to a staggering 213% at Cov5 (i.e. 7.08\u00a0\u00b1\u00a02.9\u00a0gC\u00a0m \u2212\u00a02 ). These losses were for the most part in particulate form (from 88.0% for Cov100 to 98.7% for Cov5). Plant cover reduction significantly decreased both the cumulative C\u2013CO 2  emissions (by 68% at Cov50 and 69% at Cov5) and the mineralization rate of the soil organic matter (from 0.039 gC\u2013CO 2 \u00a0gC \u2212\u00a01  at Cov100 to 0.031\u00a0gC\u2013CO 2 \u00a0gC \u2212\u00a01  at Cov5). These results are expected to increase our understanding of the impact of land degradation on the global C cycle. Further in-situ research studies, however, need to investigate whether or not grassland degradation induces net C-emissions to the atmosphere.", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "550", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "6. Clean water", "12. Responsible consumption", "South Africa", "13. Climate action", "Particulate and dissolved SOC forms", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Global C Cycle", "Water erosion", "Land use change"], "contacts": [{"organization": "McHunu, C., /Chaplot, Vincent,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2012.01.038"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Geoderma", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1016/j.geoderma.2012.01.038", "name": "item", "description": "10.1016/j.geoderma.2012.01.038", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1016/j.geoderma.2012.01.038"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2012-05-01T00:00:00Z"}}], "links": [{"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "This document as GeoJSON", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items?keywords=Particulate+and+dissolved+SOC+forms&f=json", "hreflang": "en-US"}, {"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "title": "This document as HTML", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items?keywords=Particulate+and+dissolved+SOC+forms&f=html", "hreflang": "en-US"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection URL", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main", "hreflang": "en-US"}, {"type": "application/geo+json", "rel": "first", "title": "items (first)", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items?keywords=Particulate+and+dissolved+SOC+forms&", "hreflang": "en-US"}, {"rel": "last", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "items (last)", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items?keywords=Particulate+and+dissolved+SOC+forms&offset=1", "hreflang": "en-US"}], "numberMatched": 1, "numberReturned": 1, "distributedFeatures": [], "timeStamp": "2026-04-16T16:48:44.909039Z"}