Abstract:
Dynamic changes of soil organic carbon (SOC) caused by soil erosion are of great significance to the sustainable land use and management and terrestrial carbon balance. To understand the frontier and development direction of this research field, a bibliometric approach was used to investigate the research hot spots and progress of soil erosion and SOC dynamics in the past 30 years. Based on Web of Science database and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) database, using CiteSpace software and bibliometrics methods, this paper analyzes the development history, research hotspot and trend of soil erosion and SOC dynamics in the past 30 years at home and abroad. The research showed that European and American countries have developed in the field of research, especially America is in a leading position in terms of international influence and close international cooperation. Although China started research in this field later than those countries, it maintained a steady and rapid development trend. Researches in this field were all over the world between 1995 and 2004, mainly focused on the effects of tillage and agronomic practices on soil erosion and SOC dynamics, and later shifted towards the influence of soil erosion induced soil microorganism and its community on SOC. In the recent years, quantitative studies on soil erosion and SOC dynamics based on stable isotope technology have gradually changed. Meanwhile, non-point source pollution caused by carbon and nitrogen loss caused by soil erosion and the role of eroded carbon in the global carbon cycle have also been a research focus. The domestic research in this field from 1995 to 2004 mainly focused on the loss of organic carbon and nutrients caused by soil erosion, and then gradually developed into a combination of "3S" technology and soil erosion model to study the effects of human activities, land use and climate change on soil erosion and SOC dynamics. In the past five years, combined with nuclide tracer, spectroscopy and other technologies, under the guidance of national policies, this field has gradually developed into a problem-oriented research from comprehensive ecological management to ecological civilization construction as the core. Based on comparison between the three phases in focus and frontier of the soil erosion and SOC dynamics researches at home and abroad, the paper puts forth directions for future researches on this filed in China.