Using 137Cs technique to quantify soil conservation capacities of different ecosystems in Wolong Natural Reserve, southwestern China

Reliable information about soil conservation capacities of different natural ecosystems is an important reference for the design of targeted erosion and sediment control strategies. The objective of this paper is to quantify the soil conservation capacities of different natural ecosystems that can represent different climatic zones. The 137Cs technique has been used to estimate soil redistribution rates in different natural ecosystems over the past 40 years in Wolong Nature Reserve. The reserve, transiting from the Chengdu plain to the Qinghai-Tibet plateau, maintains rich ecosystems from subtropical to frigid.The net soil erosion rates of 5 selected ecosystems that represent a warm coniferous-broadleaf-mixed forest, a cold-resistant deciduous taiga forest, a cold-resistant shrub, an evergreen cold-resistant taiga servation capacities are reversed in order. The reference inventories for 137Cs in different ecosystems velop effective erosion and sediment strategies in areas with similar climates should consider natural ecosystem types.