The study looked at soil in an alpine meadow in China to see how different levels of degradation affect the amount of carbon in the soil. They found that as the degradation of the meadow increased, the amount of soil organic carbon decreased significantly. This means that the health of the meadow is important for keeping carbon in the soil. The researchers collected soil samples from different levels of degradation and found that the topsoil had less carbon as the degradation got worse. This shows that protecting alpine meadows is crucial for sustainable animal farming and preserving soil carbon in the region.