Abstract:
This study integrates multi-source datasets, including soil texture, soil type, and soil organic carbon (SOC) content, to analyze the spatial distribution of forest SOC stocks in Yunnan Province and quantify SOC stocks across different soil types. Results show that total forest SOC stocks in Yunnan Province exhibit a spatial pattern characterized by higher values in the south and lower values in the north. Specifically, regions such as Pu'er, Honghe, and Wenshan have relatively high forest SOC stocks (>170 Tg), whereas areas such as Zhaotong, Yuxi, and Dehong show lower stocks (<100 Tg). SOC stocks in the remaining prefectures range between 100 and 170 Tg. The major forest soil types in Yunnan Province include low-activity strongly acidic soils, high-activity leached soils, initial soils, and high-activity strongly acidic soils. Among these soil types, high-activity leached soils exhibit the highest SOC density (11.96 kg·m
−2), while initial soils have the lowest (9.95 kg·m
−2). Quantitative assessment of environmental factors reveals that mean annual evaporation is the most significant factor influencing forest SOC stocks, followed by mean annual precipitation. As a key water input, annual precipitation directly affects soil moisture and vegetation growth, thus significantly influencing soil organic carbon accumulation.