Abstract: We investigated soil total organic carbon (TOC), recalcitrant organic carbon (ROC), and labile organic carbon (LOC) of evergreen broadleaved forests at different altitudes (400, 600, 800, 1000 and 1200 m) in Guanshan National Nature Reserve, Jiangxi Province, with the aim to understand their altitudinal distribution. The results showed that soil TOC, ROC and LOC contents were the highest in the surface layer and decreased with soil depth. With the increases of altitude, contents of soil TOC, ROC, readily oxidizable organic carbon (ROOC), microbial biomass carbon (MBC), and particulate organic carbon (POC, 0-20 cm depth) increased with a peak at 1000 m and then decreased, whereas soil water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) contents and POC contents in 20-40 cm layer did not change. In 0-10 cm soil layer, the proportions of ROC to TOC at 800 and 1200 m were significantly higher than those at 400 and 1000 m, while the proportions of LOC to TOC were the highest at 400 m. The proportions of ROC and LOC to TOC in 10-40 cm layer showed a low-high-low tendency along the altitude, with peaks at 1000 and 600 m, respectively. Soil organic carbon fractions were positively correlated with soil moisture, microbial biomass nitrogen, and soluble organic nitrogen. A positive correlation was observed between LOC and ammonium concentration. Our results suggested that altitude significantly affected the distribution of soil organic fractions, with soil ROC, ROOC and MBC being more sensitive to altitudinal changes. Soil ROC and LOC at high altitude were prone to decomposition and transformation under conditions with sufficient water and nitrogen, which reduced soil carbon stability. It was essential to study the dyna-mics of soil organic carbon in high altitude forests under global warming scenarios.

Key words: altitude, evergreen broadleaved forest, carbon fraction, particulate organic carbon