Journal
JOURNAL OF SOILS AND SEDIMENTS
Volume 17, Issue 1, Pages 144-156Publisher
SPRINGER HEIDELBERG
DOI: 10.1007/s11368-016-1494-2
Keywords
Land preparation; Loess Plateau; Soil conditions; Soil organic matter; Soil particle distribution; Vegetation restoration
Categories
Funding
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [41371123, 41501091, 41401209]
- National Advanced Project of China [2015BAC01B02]
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Purpose Land preparation (e. g., leveled ditches, leveled benches, adversely graded tableland, and fish-scale pits) is one of the most effective ecological engineering practices to reduce water erosion in the Loess Plateau, China. Land preparation greatly affects soil physicochemical properties. This study investigated the influence of different land preparation techniques during vegetation restoration on soil conditions, which remained poorly understood to date. Materials and methods Soil samples were collected from depths of 0-10, 10-20, 20-40, 40-60, 60-80, and 80100 cm, in the typical hilly watershed of Dingxi City, Loess Plateau. Soil bulk density (BD), soil organic matter (SOM), and total nitrogen (TN) were determined for different land preparations and vegetation type combinations. Fractal theory was used to analyze soil particle size distribution (PSD). Results and discussion (1) The effect of land preparation on soil properties and PSD varied with soil depth. For each land preparation category, SOM and TN values showed a significant difference between the top soil layer and the underlying soil depths. (2) The fractal dimension of PSD showed a significant positive correlation with clay and silt content, but a significant negative correlation with sand content. (3) The 20 cm soil layer was a boundary that distinguished the explanatory factors, with land preparation and vegetation type as the controlling factors in the 0-20-and 20-100-cm soil layers, respectively. Conclusions Land preparation and vegetation type significantly influenced soil properties, with 20 cm soil depth being the boundary for these two factors. This study provided a foundation for developing techniques for vegetation restoration in water-limited ecosystems.
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