Revegetation promotes soil mineral-associated organic carbon sequestration and soil carbon stability in the Tengger Desert, northern China

Ecological restoration is considered an effective strategy for increasing soil carbon storage and mitigating climate change. However, the impact of revegetation in desert areas on the stability of soil organic carbon (SOC) is still unclear. We investigated the content and stability of SOC in restoration sites along a chronosequence in the Tengger Desert, focusing on the mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC) and particulate organic carbon (POC) fractions. The content of SOC significantly increased with site age from 0.37 g kg−1 at year 0–5.32 g kg−1 at year 66. Revegetation significantly changed the SOC fraction and improved SOC stability as a factor of site age. In the 66-year-old site, the levels of MAOC and POC were increased by 255.67 and 9.24 times, respectively. The percentage of MAOC was increased from 1.50% to 28.92%, whereas that of POC was decreased from 98.50% to 71.08%. Based on our findings, the content and proportion of MAOC and POC are closely related to plant input, soil variables, and the soil microbial community. We estimate that the maximum content and proportion of MAOC are 2.65 g kg−1 and 36.71% with continuous succession, based on the soil clay and silt contents. Overall, revegetation improved the stability of SOC. Our study highlights the importance of the revegetation of temperate desert areas to further mitigate climate change.