Soil-Available Nutrients Associated with Soil Chemical and Aggregate Properties following Vegetation Restoration in Western Sichuan, China
The status and drivers of soil-available nutrients in plant-recovered soils are not fully understood, limiting our ability to explore the role of soil-available nutrients in soil geochemical cycling and ecosystem sustainability. Here, we combined the spatial distribution of soil-available nutrients...
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MDPI AG
2023-01-01
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/14/2/259 |
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| author | Huan Cheng Mingxuan Che Wangyang Hu Qiang Wu Yilun Cheng Xu Hu Shichen Xiong Jiangkun Zheng Yuanbo Gong |
| author_facet | Huan Cheng Mingxuan Che Wangyang Hu Qiang Wu Yilun Cheng Xu Hu Shichen Xiong Jiangkun Zheng Yuanbo Gong |
| author_sort | Huan Cheng |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The status and drivers of soil-available nutrients in plant-recovered soils are not fully understood, limiting our ability to explore the role of soil-available nutrients in soil geochemical cycling and ecosystem sustainability. Here, we combined the spatial distribution of soil-available nutrients and chemical and aggregate properties from six soil types (subalpine meadow soil, meadow soil, dark brown soil, brown soil, yellow-brown soil, and cinnamon soil) and three horizons (a leaching horizon, sediment horizon, and parent material horizon) to study the status and drivers of soil-available nutrients. Our findings reveal that the soil-available nitrogen (AN) ranged from 72.33 to 169.67 mg/kg, the soil-available phosphorus (AP) ranged from 1.77 to 75.90 mg/kg, and the soil-available potassium (AK) ranged from 46.43 to 88.55 mg/kg in the six soil types. The subalpine meadow soil and the dark brown soil had the highest soil AN, with means of 169.67 and 139.35 mg/kg, respectively. The brown soil had the highest soil AP, with a mean of 75.9 mg/kg, and the dark brown soil and the brown soil had the highest soil AK, with means of 83.49 and 88.55 mg/kg, respectively. The results show that the soil types and soil depths had a significant impact on the status of AN, AP, and AK (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Moreover, a higher cation exchange capacity (CEC), the macro-aggregate contents (with 2–1 mm and 1–0.5 mm particle sizes) of the non-water-stable aggregates, and the macro-aggregate content and stability (2–1 mm particle size and geometric mean diameter (GMD) of the water-stable aggregates were deemed to facilitate soil-available nitrogen because of the positive correlations (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Lower exchangeable cations (ECs) and the micro-aggregate content (≤0.1 mm particle size) of the water-stable aggregates and higher soil cations helped in the accumulation of soil-available phosphorus and soil-available potassium, respectively. Moreover, the regulation of the soil chemical and aggregate properties was found to vary with soil type and horizon in a correlation analysis. Together, our results provide insights into the importance of chemical and aggregate properties in regulating soil nutrient availability across soil types, as well as providing strong support for the inclusion of soil resource utilization in regional forest restoration and management. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T08:49:03Z |
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| id | doaj.art-9cdda492a8654e6cb82c7ac016b08faa |
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| issn | 1999-4907 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T08:49:03Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
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| spelling | doaj.art-9cdda492a8654e6cb82c7ac016b08faa2023-11-16T20:33:30ZengMDPI AGForests1999-49072023-01-0114225910.3390/f14020259Soil-Available Nutrients Associated with Soil Chemical and Aggregate Properties following Vegetation Restoration in Western Sichuan, ChinaHuan Cheng0Mingxuan Che1Wangyang Hu2Qiang Wu3Yilun Cheng4Xu Hu5Shichen Xiong6Jiangkun Zheng7Yuanbo Gong8School of Life Science and Engineering, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang 621010, ChinaSchool of Life Science and Engineering, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang 621010, ChinaCollege of Forestry, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, ChinaWater Management Station, Water Authority, Luzhou 646000, ChinaCollege of Forestry, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, ChinaCollege of Soil and Water Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, ChinaCollege of Forestry, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, ChinaCollege of Forestry, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, ChinaCollege of Forestry, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, ChinaThe status and drivers of soil-available nutrients in plant-recovered soils are not fully understood, limiting our ability to explore the role of soil-available nutrients in soil geochemical cycling and ecosystem sustainability. Here, we combined the spatial distribution of soil-available nutrients and chemical and aggregate properties from six soil types (subalpine meadow soil, meadow soil, dark brown soil, brown soil, yellow-brown soil, and cinnamon soil) and three horizons (a leaching horizon, sediment horizon, and parent material horizon) to study the status and drivers of soil-available nutrients. Our findings reveal that the soil-available nitrogen (AN) ranged from 72.33 to 169.67 mg/kg, the soil-available phosphorus (AP) ranged from 1.77 to 75.90 mg/kg, and the soil-available potassium (AK) ranged from 46.43 to 88.55 mg/kg in the six soil types. The subalpine meadow soil and the dark brown soil had the highest soil AN, with means of 169.67 and 139.35 mg/kg, respectively. The brown soil had the highest soil AP, with a mean of 75.9 mg/kg, and the dark brown soil and the brown soil had the highest soil AK, with means of 83.49 and 88.55 mg/kg, respectively. The results show that the soil types and soil depths had a significant impact on the status of AN, AP, and AK (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Moreover, a higher cation exchange capacity (CEC), the macro-aggregate contents (with 2–1 mm and 1–0.5 mm particle sizes) of the non-water-stable aggregates, and the macro-aggregate content and stability (2–1 mm particle size and geometric mean diameter (GMD) of the water-stable aggregates were deemed to facilitate soil-available nitrogen because of the positive correlations (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Lower exchangeable cations (ECs) and the micro-aggregate content (≤0.1 mm particle size) of the water-stable aggregates and higher soil cations helped in the accumulation of soil-available phosphorus and soil-available potassium, respectively. Moreover, the regulation of the soil chemical and aggregate properties was found to vary with soil type and horizon in a correlation analysis. Together, our results provide insights into the importance of chemical and aggregate properties in regulating soil nutrient availability across soil types, as well as providing strong support for the inclusion of soil resource utilization in regional forest restoration and management.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/14/2/259soil-available nutrientssoil aggregatessoil genetic horizonsoil typevegetation restoration |
| spellingShingle | Huan Cheng Mingxuan Che Wangyang Hu Qiang Wu Yilun Cheng Xu Hu Shichen Xiong Jiangkun Zheng Yuanbo Gong Soil-Available Nutrients Associated with Soil Chemical and Aggregate Properties following Vegetation Restoration in Western Sichuan, China Forests soil-available nutrients soil aggregates soil genetic horizon soil type vegetation restoration |
| title | Soil-Available Nutrients Associated with Soil Chemical and Aggregate Properties following Vegetation Restoration in Western Sichuan, China |
| title_full | Soil-Available Nutrients Associated with Soil Chemical and Aggregate Properties following Vegetation Restoration in Western Sichuan, China |
| title_fullStr | Soil-Available Nutrients Associated with Soil Chemical and Aggregate Properties following Vegetation Restoration in Western Sichuan, China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Soil-Available Nutrients Associated with Soil Chemical and Aggregate Properties following Vegetation Restoration in Western Sichuan, China |
| title_short | Soil-Available Nutrients Associated with Soil Chemical and Aggregate Properties following Vegetation Restoration in Western Sichuan, China |
| title_sort | soil available nutrients associated with soil chemical and aggregate properties following vegetation restoration in western sichuan china |
| topic | soil-available nutrients soil aggregates soil genetic horizon soil type vegetation restoration |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/14/2/259 |
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