The researchers studied soil on degraded alpine meadows in Tibet to see how soil organic carbon is related to other soil properties. They found that as meadows degraded, soil organic carbon decreased, leading to lower soil nutrients and moisture, and higher soil bulk density. Soil organic carbon was positively linked to soil active organic carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and water content, but negatively linked to bulk density. The loss of soil organic carbon had the biggest impact on soil nitrogen levels.