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{"title":"Distribution characteristics and relationships of soil organic carbon and inorganic carbon in a typical wetland in semi-arid area of Northeast China","authors":"Yuan Xin ,&nbsp;Xianglong Xing ,&nbsp;Long Chen ,&nbsp;Zhongsheng Zhang ,&nbsp;Walian Du ,&nbsp;Shouzheng Tong ,&nbsp;Mingye Zhang ,&nbsp;Yu An ,&nbsp;Geng Cui ,&nbsp;Dongmei Zheng ,&nbsp;Guangtao Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.109480","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.109480","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The distribution characteristics and driving mechanisms of soil organic carbon (SOC) and inorganic carbon (SIC) are critical for understanding carbon sink functions in semi-arid wetlands. However, current research on SOC and SIC in these ecosystems remains insufficient. This study focused on the Momoge Wetland, a representative semi-arid wetland exhibiting three distinct hydrological connectivity patterns: floodplain wetlands (ET), irrigation district wetlands (ME), and isolated wetlands (WT). The wetland encompasses seven vegetation types and four salinity gradients. Through the analysis of relationships among soil physicochemical properties, microbial characteristics, SOC, and SIC, we identified the dominant factors influencing the distribution, stocks, and interactions of SOC and SIC in semi-arid wetlands. Our findings revealed significant spatial heterogeneity in SOC and SIC distribution within the 0–100 cm soil layer, which was primarily associated with variations in vegetation types, hydrological connectivity patterns, and salinity. The total SOC and SIC stocks in the 1-meter layer of the Momoge Wetland were 1.06 × 10⁷ Mg and 5.93 × 10⁶ Mg, respectively. The most important physicochemical soil factors affecting SOC and SIC content and density were TN and TCa, respectively. Microbial characteristics and soil physicochemical properties together explained 28.5 % of SOC variation and 22.9 % of SIC variation. SOC and SIC exhibited a complementary relationship; specifically, changes in hydrological connectivity patterns (ET → ME → WT) facilitated SOC-to-SIC transformation through multiple pathways, with varying intensities, by altering pH and salinity regimes and regulating plant characteristics, soil nutrients, and microbial characteristics. These results provide insights into soil carbon conversion and sequestration in semi-arid wetlands.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9801,"journal":{"name":"Catena","volume":"260 ","pages":"Article 109480"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145155547","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Desert ant mound size reshapes soil microarthropod alpha but not beta diversity distribution","authors":"Lei Zhou ,&nbsp;Rentao Liu ,&nbsp;Feiyue Zeng","doi":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.109490","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.109490","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Mound size, engineered by desert ants, critically reshapes soil microarthropod diversity distribution in desert ecosystems by modifying key microhabitat conditions. This study investigated the effects of different-sized mounds on the diversity of soil microarthropods in revegetated plantations of the Tengger Desert. Within revegetated plantations, we measured ant mound size and then collected soil microarthropods from both mounds and open spaces for the calculation of alpha and beta diversity. We found that ant mound significantly increased the abundance and alpha diversity (taxonomic richness, Shannon index, and Simpson index) of soil microarthropods, but significantly reduced their beta diversity. Furthermore, small mounds had a stronger influence on the alpha diversity of soil microarthropods compared to large ant mounds, while both large and small mound showed similar negative effects on the beta diversity. pSEM showed that ant activity directly reduced soil microarthropod alpha diversity, but indirectly increased it via mound size-mediated soil potassium enrichment. For beta diversity, mound expansion from ant activity decreased diversity, while mound size itself increased diversity through reduced spatial heterogeneity of soil total phosphorus. Our research reveals the changes in soil microarthropod diversity following ant mound size, advancing our understanding of the ecological functions of ants during the restoration of revegetated plantations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9801,"journal":{"name":"Catena","volume":"260 ","pages":"Article 109490"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145155549","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mountain ecosystem health response to landscape pattern in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, China","authors":"Lin Liu ,&nbsp;Qingrong Wang ,&nbsp;Yangbing Li ,&nbsp;Jing’an Shao ,&nbsp;Ying Huang","doi":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.109477","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.109477","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As a critical component of the Earth’s system, Mountains play a pivotal role in global ecological sustainability. To advance sustainable development in mountainous regions, a rigorous examination of the heterogeneous evolutionary dynamics of ecosystem health—driven by landscape pattern variations across diverse terrains—is imperative, alongside formulating spatially differentiated regulatory strategies. However, current ecosystem research frameworks face limitations, including insufficient multi-scale integration and inadequate quantification of human activities, which weaken their ability to explain heterogeneity in ecosystem health. Based on the intrinsic connection between ecosystem health and landscape patterns—a connection that directly determines ecosystem function and stability—this study proposes a novel “Drivers-Landscape Patterns-Ecosystem Health” framework. It is used to analyze ecosystem health responses to mountain landscape heterogeneity. Incorporating the Vigor − Organization − Resilience − Ecosystem Services (VORS) model reveals evolutionary traits and coupling mechanisms under varied topography, supporting sustainable ecosystem management. The study revealed three major findings: (1) From 2000 to 2020, ecosystem health in the area improved gradually, remaining at a moderate level overall but with notable spatial variation—health increased significantly with elevation. (2) Landscape patterns strongly correlated with ecosystem health, and topographic gradients emerged as a key driver, influencing both landscape metrics and their interactions. (3) Topography and human activities jointly drive divergent landscape pattern evolution across different topographic zones. These findings enhance the understanding of landscape-ecological coupling in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area and offer valuable insights for ecosystem management in similar mountainous regions globally.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9801,"journal":{"name":"Catena","volume":"260 ","pages":"Article 109477"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145155550","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Spectro-pedotransfer functions for estimating Atterberg limits in soil","authors":"Baisakhi Bala,&nbsp;Naveen K. Purushothaman,&nbsp;Bhabani S. Das","doi":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.109476","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.109476","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Pedotransfer and spectro-transfer functions are frequently used for estimating Atterberg limits in soil. Here, we employed the Boruta feature selection approach to identify key soil and spectral features to develop hybrid spectro-pedotransfer functions (SPTF) for estimating Atterberg limits. Developed SPTFs were tested using 754 samples collected from 5 different states (Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Bihar, Odisha, and Rajasthan) of India representing a wide range of agroecological conditions. Collected samples were analyzed for sand and clay contents, soil organic carbon (SOC) contents, pH, electrical conductivity (EC), Atterberg limits, and spectral reflectance data over the visible to near-infrared (VNIR) region (wavelength: 350–2500 nm). Results showed that SPTFs developed with sand and SOC contents and absorption depth near the 1900 nm wavelength of VNIR spectra (D₁₉₀₀) may be used to estimate Atterberg limits with the coefficient of determination (R²) values in the range of 0.59–0.75 for pooled data. Because these parameters may be quickly estimated (less than an hour) under laboratory conditions, SPTFs may be used as a rapid method of estimating Atterberg limits. As a scaling-up strategy, we also showed that the normalized burn ratio 2 estimated from Sentinel-2 multispectral imaging data may be used as a proxy for D₁₉₀₀ to estimate Atterberg limits with R² values of 0.56–0.79, which requires large-scale validation. Results also showed that high SOC contents in soils suppress the effects of clay contents on Atterberg limits suggesting that sand content is a better predictor of Atterberg limits than clay contents specifically in high carbon soils.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9801,"journal":{"name":"Catena","volume":"260 ","pages":"Article 109476"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145155104","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ontogenetic shifts in alfalfa root distribution and morphology drive soil water depletion and productivity decline in Loess Plateau pastures","authors":"Yuxin Hu ,&nbsp;Yuhuan Wu ,&nbsp;Zeeshan Muhammad ,&nbsp;Li Wang ,&nbsp;Zikui Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.109483","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.109483","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Alfalfa (<em>Medicago sativa</em>) pasture sustainability in China’s Loess Plateau faces critical challenges from water scarcity and productivity decline in older stands. This two-year study (2020–2021) examined root distribution and morphology, biomass allocation, and soil water storage (SWS) dynamics across eight alfalfa stands aged 3–19 years (M3-M19), with annual cropland as control. Key findings revealed distinct ontogenetic shifts: in younger stands (&lt;10 years, M10−), fine roots (Root length density = 0.18 cm cm⁻³) predominated in shallow layers (0–2 m), constituting 92.5 % of root systems, while coarse roots increased to 15.5 % in older stands (≥10 years, M10+). Notable vertical redistribution occurred in M10+, with fine root density increasing 62.5 % in deep soil layers (5–10 m) compared to M10−. Soil water deficit reached critical levels (740.1–822.2 mm in 0–10 m profile), with older stands exhibiting 57.5 % greater deep soil layer water depletion. Productivity declined sharply in M10+, showing 46.9 % lower aboveground biomass (peak yield at M6) despite stable belowground biomass. Multivariate analysis identified significant (<em>p</em> &lt; 0.01) correlations between root traits (fine/coarse root ratio) and water depletion patterns, modulated by stand age and soil depth. These results demonstrate that stand rejuvenation before six years optimizes water-use efficiency and yield stability in this fragile ecosystem.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9801,"journal":{"name":"Catena","volume":"260 ","pages":"Article 109483"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145155103","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Land-use changes alter the soil microbial community structure and key C, N, and S metabolic functional potentials in the Yuncheng Salt Lake wetland","authors":"Haixin Yang ,&nbsp;Yuan Li ,&nbsp;Jiasheng Li ,&nbsp;Xinyue Zhao ,&nbsp;KeJia Zhu ,&nbsp;Wanrou Zhang ,&nbsp;Wanqin Zhao ,&nbsp;Yuyao Bai ,&nbsp;Wenjing Liu ,&nbsp;Yuan Zhang ,&nbsp;Qilin Yu ,&nbsp;Donggang Guo ,&nbsp;Quanxi Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.109479","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.109479","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A comprehensive understanding of the microbial communities inhabiting alkaline lake wetlands is critical to maintaining their ecological functions. However, current evidence regarding microbial variations in different habitats of biologically challenging alkaline lake wetlands remains limited. Here, we used high-throughput sequencing technology (16S, ITS, and metagenomic) to analyze the microbial community profile and key metabolic potential of C, N, and S in the surface soil (0–20 cm) of different land-use types (farmland, grassland, and lake embankment) in the Yuncheng Salt Lake wetland. We found significant spatial heterogeneity in wetland soil properties, with salinity gradients and nutrient availability being the main factors driving spatial variation in microbial community structure and metabolic function. Soil bacterial community assembly was primarily driven by environmental heterogeneity selection, whereas stochastic drift processes predominantly governed the structure of fungal communities. The grassland with moderate salinity and rich nutrients exhibited higher co-occurrence network topological complexity and possessed element cycling potential, such as methane degradation. In contrast, the lake embankment under extreme high-salinity stress formed a unique cross-kingdom collaboration pattern distinct from those in farmland and grassland (with an increased proportion of bacterial-fungal interactions) and imposed selective pressure on microbial element metabolism. The diversity of microbial taxa contributing to C, N, and S metabolism was high, which further reflects the critical role of microorganisms in supporting wetland element cycling. Overall, these results provide important insights into understanding microbial adaptive strategies and the functional metabolism of their driving elemental geochemical cycles in alkaline lake wetlands.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9801,"journal":{"name":"Catena","volume":"260 ","pages":"Article 109479"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145155105","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of vegetation types on hillslope runoff and soil erosion on the Loess Plateau","authors":"Mengyao Tuo ,&nbsp;Hailiang Qiao ,&nbsp;Guoce Xu ,&nbsp;Bin Wang ,&nbsp;Shun Wan ,&nbsp;Xiaoni Wang ,&nbsp;Xue Xie","doi":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.109487","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.109487","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Hillslope runoff and dynamic erosion processes are fundamentally governed by the interaction between vegetation types and environmental conditions. A total of 941 runoff and 1001 soil erosion observations under five vegetation types (grass, tree, shrub, crop, and shrub&amp;grass) were synthesized, and a <em>meta</em>-analysis approach was employed to systematically evaluate the effects of vegetation types and their interactions with environmental factors on hillslope runoff and soil erosion on the Loess Plateau. The results indicated that all vegetation types significantly reduced (p &lt; 0.05) hillslope runoff and soil erosion, with trees demonstrating the most pronounced suppressive effect (p &lt; 0.001). Mean annual precipitation (MAP) was identified as the most influential factor in explaining hillslope runoff, accounting for 61.3 % of the variance, while slope was found to be the dominant factor influencing soil erosion (33.6 %). Threshold analysis revealed that the effectiveness of vegetation in reducing runoff and soil erosion varies significantly under different environmental conditions, such as MAP, topography and soil properties. The most favorable environmental settings for mitigating runoff and soil erosion on hillslopes varied depending on vegetation types. Among them, trees exhibited the most pronounced effect in reducing hillslope runoff under conditions of slope between 10 and 15°, bulk density (BD) of 1.4–1.5 g/cm³, clay content (CC) exceeding 20 %, and soil erodibility factor (K) values ranging from 0.03 to 0.04. With respect to soil erosion, the greatest reduction was observed under slope length (SL) of 2–4 m and CC values ranging from 5 % to 10 %. This study provides quantitative evidence and scientific support for vegetation configuration aimed at ecological restoration and soil and water conservation in the Loess Plateau region.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9801,"journal":{"name":"Catena","volume":"260 ","pages":"Article 109487"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145155556","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Influence of slope crest soil cracks on water dynamics and gully wall stability under varying rainfall patterns","authors":"Maojin Yang,&nbsp;Nanbo Cen,&nbsp;Bangning Zhou,&nbsp;Yihao Lv,&nbsp;Fangshi Jiang,&nbsp;Yanhe Huang,&nbsp;Jinshi Lin,&nbsp;Yue Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.109469","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.109469","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Cracks at the slope crest of collapsing gully erosion areas significantly influence soil hydrological processes and mechanical properties; however, the response mechanism between crack development and gully wall destabilization under rainfall conditions remains unclear. In this study, typical collapsing gully walls with and without cracks in the red soil hilly region of China were selected as the research objects. The effects of short-duration rainstorms, long-duration light rainfall and crack conditions on soil hydrology and slope stability were quantitatively analysed. The results showed that the annual average soil moisture of soils with cracks in collapsing gully walls was significantly lower than that of soils without cracks. Under long-duration light rainfall, collapsing gully walls exhibited significantly higher increases and faster growth rates of soil moisture than under short-duration rainstorms. Across both rainfall scenarios, the soil with cracks in collapsing gully walls consistently showed greater increases and faster growth rates compared to that shown by soils without cracks. The safety factor was consistently lower for collapsing gully walls with cracks than for those without cracks and lower under short-duration rainstorms than under long-duration light rainfall. Compared with soils without cracks at the slope crest, the minimum safety factor of soils with cracks decreased by 29.4% and 39.0% under short-duration rainstorms and long-duration light rainfall, respectively. These results demonstrated that the presence of cracks increases cumulative soil moisture during rainfall events and significantly weakens the stability of collapsing gully walls, particularly under long-duration light rainfall.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9801,"journal":{"name":"Catena","volume":"260 ","pages":"Article 109469"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145155552","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"How topographic and pedological factors affect vegetation responses to drought: a study from the Qinling Mountains, China","authors":"Chao Li ,&nbsp;Zhao Jin ,&nbsp;Chengcheng Jiang ,&nbsp;Yanjun Shen ,&nbsp;Rui Wang ,&nbsp;Jianbing Peng","doi":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.109470","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.109470","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Under global warming, the Qinling Mountains, a region highly sensitive to climate change, face increasing challenges in understanding vegetation responses to drought, particularly due to differences in topographic and pedological factors. This study employed three vegetation indices—EVI, GPP, and LAI—together with the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) to evaluate vegetation responses to drought. Additionally, random forest and structural equation models were used to quantify the direct and indirect effects of topographic and pedological factors on vegetation response to drought. Our results suggested that from 2001 to 2020, the growth rate of EVI in Qinling exceeded that of GPP and LAI, indicating stronger drought-induced inhibition of GPP and LAI. The time lag effect of drought promoted vegetation growth in 47–62 % of the study area, while cumulative drought effects inhibited growth in 79–91 % of vegetation. Anthropogenic changes in vegetation types intensifying sensitivity to drought, anthropic vegetation showed a higher time lag response coefficient (0.05) than natural vegetation. Nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium improved vegetation drought resistance by regulating physiological processes. Elevation influenced drought vulnerability by shaping regional climate and vegetation distribution, while bedrock depth and slope regulated access to water storage during drought. Drought vulnerability, water availability, and vegetation resistance had influence coefficients of 0.10, 0.20, and −0.29, respectively, in cumulative drought responses, while water availability during time lagged drought effects had a dominant coefficient of 0.42. These findings provide essential insights into vegetation responses to drought and offer a theoretical basis for addressing global climate change and drought impacts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9801,"journal":{"name":"Catena","volume":"260 ","pages":"Article 109470"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145119333","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Low organic carbon storage of sediment due to frequent river course changes in Yellow River Delta","authors":"Dongxue Li ,&nbsp;Zhonghua Ning ,&nbsp;Kristof Van Oost ,&nbsp;Wasner Daniel ,&nbsp;Yi’na Li ,&nbsp;Baoshan Cui ,&nbsp;Sebastian Doetterl","doi":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.109427","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.109427","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Coastal alluvial plains in river deltas can store significant carbon by burying upland sediments and former topsoil. The Yellow River Delta, shaped by continuous upstream sediment deposition and shifting river courses, offers a unique case to study this. We collected five 2 m soil cores along a sediment sequence reflecting 80 years of deposition and river course changes. Our analysis of soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks and sources revealed that older river courses hold less SOC than newer ones. SOC was generally low, except near the surface. Upstream-derived organic carbon contributed more to SOC stocks than local vegetation, especially in younger sediments. All sediments showed high inorganic carbon and alkaline conditions, pointing to loess-derived subsoils from the uplands as the primary sediment source. These subsoils, low in organic carbon and weathering, indicate rapid erosion and a degraded terrestrial carbon cycle upstream. Although deltaic settings could protect deposited carbon, our findings highlight the limited increase in SOC due to the input of C-depleted materials. Therefore, soil conservation is critical not only in the delta but also in its erosion-prone upland sources.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9801,"journal":{"name":"Catena","volume":"260 ","pages":"Article 109427"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145119334","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}