Dynamics of soil microbial biomass and soil enzyme activities along a vegetation restoration gradient in a karst peak-cluster depression area

Yingying, 叶莹莹 Ye; Shujuan, 刘淑娟 Liu; Wei, 张伟 Zhang; Shiyan, 舒世燕 Shu; Shan, 杨珊 Yang; Kelin, 王克林 Wang

doi:10.5846/stxb201402150260

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Current researches on desert steppe mainly focused on land conservation and ecological restoration, and assessed the impact of different types of land use, different grazing intensities and fence treatments, and soil and water conservation measures on soil quality. [27][28][29][30][31][32][33]. These studies are valuable for preventing soil erosion, improving vegetation coverage and combating desertification.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of soil quality in Inner Mongolia desert steppe—A case study of Siziwang Banner

Jiang,

Li,

Guo

et al. 2023

PLoS ONE

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As a natural ecological fragile region, the vast desert steppe in the Inner Mongolia has a developed animal husbandry, and thus posed great impacts on soil quality. In order to accurately evaluate the current situation of soil quality in the desert steppe, it is therefore imperative to adopt a suitable method to effectively assess the soil quality in the region. In this study, the minimum data set (MDS) was established with the help of principal component analysis, Norm value calculation, and correlation analysis, and four indicators, including organic matter, sand grains, soil erosion degree, and pH, were established to evaluate the soil quality of the desert steppe in the Siziwang Banner, a county in the Inner Mongolia. The results from the minimum data set (MDS) method were validated based on the total data set (TDS) method, and the validation indicated that the MDS method can be representative of the soil quality of the study area. The results indicated: 1) the soil quality index (SQI) of 0–30 cm in more than 90% of the study area falls in the range of 0.4 and 0.6 (medium level), while the better level (SQI ≥0.6) only accounted less than 10% of the study area; 2) For the MDS indexes, soil organic matter content at all depths decreased in the southern mountains, central hills, and northern plateau, which is consistent with the changing trends of SQI; 3) The sand grain was the dominant particle in the study region, which was in accordance with the intense wind erosion; 4) The negative correlation was found between the soil pH value and SQI (the high value in pH corresponded to the low value in SQI), which reflected that soil pH has a more stressful effect on the local vegetation. Overall, the MDS indexes in this study can objectively and practically reflect the soil quality in the study area, which can provide a cost effective method for SQI assessment in the desert steppe, which is important for the further grassland ecological construction and grassland management to improve the soil quality in the desert steppes.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%