Unraveling carbon stock dynamics and their determinants in China's Loess Plateau over the past 40 years

Synergies and trade-offs among land use and land covers (LULCs) pose considerable uncertainties in achieving the dual carbon goals for China's Loess Plateau (CLP). In this context, we unraveled the carbon stock dynamics induced by land use and land cover change (LUCC) in the CLP over the past 40 years using the satellite-derived annual LULC maps and the InVEST model. Then, mixed measures were employed to quantify the global and local responses of the carbon stock dynamics to both natural and anthropogenic factors. We found that approximately a total of 5.58 × 10⁹ Mg of carbon was stored in the CLP's ecosystems in 2019. Chronologically, the total carbon stock showed a slight decrease in the CLP from 1980 to 2019 due to the extensive LUCCs linked to socioeconomic activities. Specifically, the total carbon density loss rate accelerated in urban–rural-wild continuum (RUWC) types with higher human activity intensity, such as villages and urban, while it decelerated in woodlands, and croplands, where the human activity intensity is lower. Moreover, the total carbon density gain rate in wildlands was accelerating. Finally, we revealed that the carbon stock dynamics in the CLP over the past 40 years were primarily influenced by socioeconomic variables and have responded diversely to the drivers in space.