Abstract:
Soil organic carbon (SOC) is an important part of terrestrial carbon pool. The loss of soil organic carbon not only results in the decrease of land productivity, but also exacerbates the trend of global warming to some extent. Nowadays, the loss of SOC has attracted more and more attention in the study of soil erosion and its control. What’s more, as an important factor affecting soil erosion, vegetation plays a key role in control the soil organic carbon loss. The relationship between vegetation and soil organic carbon loss was summarized through the three scales of patch, hillslope and small watershed according to the previous research. The characteristics of vegetation patch (coverage, vegetation type, root distribution, etc.) can suppress runoff erosion and reduce the erosion effect of rainfall on soil. The characteristics of slope degree, slope position, and slope aspect affect the organic carbon loss by affecting the growth and distribution patterns of the vegetation. While at small watershed scale, the relationship between vegetation and soil erosion is studied from the effect of landscape pattern on the distribution and loss of organic carbon aspect. Finally, the problems existing in the study of the loss of organic carbon in soil under different vegetation coverage are discussed, and the future trend of this research is presented.