Journal
FORESTS
Volume 10, Issue 10, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/f10100932
Keywords
soil quality; successive planting; generation; stand age; clear-cutting; Larix principis-rupprechtii Mayr
Categories
Funding
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [31870387]
- China Scholarship Council
Ask authors/readers for more resources
A decline in soil quality is a major factor contributing to the degradation of forest ecological function. Vegetation plays a vital role in maintaining soil quality; however, the influence of plantation length on soil quality remains unclear. In this study, we collected soil samples in Northern China using a space-for-time substitution method. Soil were collected from control grassland; a clear-cutting site; 16-year-old (young, first, and second generation), 28-year-old (immature, first, and second generation), and 44-year-old (mature, first generation) Larix principis-rupprechtii Mayr stands in May, July, and September 2016. We measured soil physical and chemical properties, microbial communities, and enzymatic activities. We selected soil bulk density, non-capillary porosity, volume humidity, soil organic carbon and activity of polyphenol oxidase to calculate a soil quality index (SQI) for each site. Our data indicated that clear-cutting greatly decreased soil quality of Larix principis-rupprechtii forests but returning the harvesting residues to the forest floor could reduce the negative impact of clear-cutting on soil quality. The soil quality improved significantly by prolonging the cultivation cycle and it took about 39 years for the first-generation forest to restore soil quality to the level of the control plot. Our study confirms that SQI provides a comprehensive measurement of soil quality with the identification of a minimum data set. Comparing SQI with other soil quality indicators would help us to optimize the method for assessing soil quality.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available