Influence of shrub encroachment on CT-measured soil macropore characteristics in the Inner Mongolia grassland of northern China

Hu, Xia; Li, Zong-Chao; Li, Xiaoyan; Liu, Yong

doi:10.1016/j.still.2014.12.019

Cited by 64 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…Soil organic matter contents reported by Udawatta et al (2006), Kim et al (2010) and Hu et al (2015) were larger than those observed in our study (1.9-13.9 g kg -1 ). Organic matter content decreased with increasing soil depth (Table 1).…”

Section: Soil Propertiescontrasting

confidence: 89%

“…In this study, macroporosity under ALF (0.65%) and KOP (1.91%) was less than that under grass (1.5%) and tree (3.5%) buffer zones reported by Udawatta et al (2006). The macropore counts under ALF (6) and KOP (17) were smaller than those reported for the grassland in inner Mongolia (Hu et al, 2015). In general, fewer macropores and less macroporosity decrease water transmission and increase surface runoff.…”

Section: Macropore Characteristicscontrasting

confidence: 63%

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Application of X‐ray tomography to quantify macropore characteristics of loess soil under two perennial plants

Shao

Jia

2016

European J Soil Science

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SummaryWith the advent of large-scale restoration of vegetation in the Loess Plateau, northwest China, there has been an increase in concern about the suitability of loess soil to support permanent vegetation cover. The quantification of soil macropore characteristics could be critical in determining the architecture and hydrological processes of loess soil on the plateau. In this research, we compared the effects of Purple alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) and Korshinsk peashrub (Caragana korshinskii K.) on the macropore characteristics of a soil profile on the plateau with computed tomography (CT). To achieve this, undisturbed cores of soil were excavated from beneath purple alfalfa (ALF), 22-year-old Korshinsk peashrub (KOP 22 ) and 40-year-old Korshinsk peashrub (KOP 40 ) vegetation types in the Liudaogou watershed for evaluation. The soil macropore characteristics (including macroporosity, largest pore area, amounts of macropores, circularity, surface area density, branch density, junction density and connectivity) were determined with image analysis software. Soil under KOP 22 and KOP 40 treatments had approximately the same amounts of macropores (17 per 6359-mm 2 area), which was three times greater than those under ALF plants. Macroporosity ratios of soil under KOP 22 and KOP 40 plants to that under ALF plants were 2.3 and 3.6, respectively. Compared with KOP 22 , KOP 40 had a larger macroporosity and the largest pore area at the 100-300-mm soil depth. The KOP plants, in particular KOP 40 , apparently improved the macropore network structure of the soil more than ALF. However, the macropores under ALF were much rounder at the 100-300-mm soil depth than those under the other two plants. There was no correlation between macropore characteristics and organic matter content of the soil at 100-400-mm depth. Nevertheless, macroporosity was strongly correlated with the largest pore area. The findings of this research are critical for developing strategies for the restoration of vegetation in the Loess Plateau through improvement of the hydrological process of loess soil.

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Section: Soil Propertiescontrasting

confidence: 89%

Section: Macropore Characteristicscontrasting

confidence: 63%

Application of X‐ray tomography to quantify macropore characteristics of loess soil under two perennial plants

Shao

Jia

2016

European J Soil Science

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“…Bhark & Small, 2003;Eldridge, Beecham, & Grace, 2015;Eldridge, Wang, & Ruiz-Colmenero, 2015;Gómez et al, 2015;Madsen, Chandler, & Belnap, 2008), we demonstrated substantially greater sorptivity and infiltration under the canopies of long-lived vegetation patches such as shrubs, trees, and perennial grasses than in the interspaces. These favourable abiotic conditions beneath woody canopies support greater densities of termites (Noble, Mueller, Whitford, & Pfitzner, 2009) and soil invertebrates (Chilcott, Reid, & King, 1997) that construct biopores, leading to positive feedbacks on soil physical and chemical properties, increasing infiltration (Eldridge & Freudenberger, 2005;Hu, Li, Li, & Liu, 2015;Pueyo, Moret-Fernandez, Saiz, Bueno, & Alados, 2013;Tobella et al, 2014). The magnitude of the macroporosity index for soil beneath grasses, shrubs, and trees (range 10-24) suggests that observed differences in hydrology among these microsites were largely due to the presence of macropores; large biologically produced pores that are the principal channels for conducting water.…”

Section: Grasses and Woody Patches Drive Infiltration Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Stem-flow deposition of material excreted by invertebrates and birds using woody plant canopies (Belsky et al, 1989) and the shedding of large volumes of litter from trees and shrubs enhance soil carbon and nitrogen pools beneath the canopies (Dean, Milton, & Jeltsch, 1999;Eldridge & Rath, 2002). These favourable abiotic conditions beneath woody canopies support greater densities of termites (Noble, Mueller, Whitford, & Pfitzner, 2009) and soil invertebrates (Chilcott, Reid, & King, 1997) that construct biopores, leading to positive feedbacks on soil physical and chemical properties, increasing infiltration (Eldridge & Freudenberger, 2005;Hu, Li, Li, & Liu, 2015;Pueyo, Moret-Fernandez, Saiz, Bueno, & Alados, 2013;Tobella et al, 2014).…”

Section: Grasses and Woody Patches Drive Infiltration Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microsite and grazing intensity drive infiltration in a semiarid woodland

et al. 2017

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Human activities such as vegetation removal and overgrazing that result in changes in land cover have substantial impacts on ecosystem processes, including the infiltration of water. Different land cover types (microsites) vary in their capacity to conduct water, but the extent to which infiltration is affected by different herbivores or microsites is largely unknown. We examined the effects of grazing and microsite on infiltration in two extensive woodland communities in semiarid eastern Australia that vary in current condition. Poor condition sites had lower steady-state infiltration under ponding than either average or good condition sites, and this effect was consistent across the two communities. Ponded infiltration and sorptivity beneath grasses, shrubs or trees were about twice that on bare soil, and this corresponded to greater indices of macroporosity. Structural equation modelling showed that shrubs, trees, and grasses had strong positive effects on sorptivity and steady-state infiltration under ponding, whereas grazing had generally negative effects. The suppressive effects of grazing on soil hydrological processes were mainly due to cattle grazing. The positive effects of grasses, shrubs, and trees on hydrology were twice as strong as the negative effects of grazing. Our results also suggest that prolonged overgrazing that leads to reductions in grass cover is likely to have a synergistic reduction in hydrological function in these woodlands by reducing the cover of highly conductive patches and by reducing the extent of macropores.

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“…In the rangelands of Inner Mongolia, China, shrub encroachment studies have been undertaken in recent years. However, none has been able to establish a clear relationship between shrub encroachment and accelerated desertification [15][16][17]. Otindag Sandy Land, located in southeastern Inner Mongolia, is characterized by serious aeolian…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial Association of Shrubs and Their Interrelation to Burrowing Site Preference of Subterranean Rodents on Dune Slope in the Otindag Sandy Land, China

Jiang

Wang

et al. 2017

Sustainability

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Rangelands worldwide have more shrubs now, and subterranean rangeland rodents show close interaction to shrubs when choosing a burrowing site. The study was conducted in Otindag Sandy Land in Inner Mongolia, China with the objective of determining the effects of slope position on spatial pattern and interaction of shrubs; how rodents choose their habitat in different slope; and shrubs and rodents influence each other. To accomplish the objective set, we used three physiographic units: Plot 1 (upper slope), Plot 2 (middle slope), and Plot 3 (lower slope), and all individual woody plants and rodent holes in the three plots were mapped. The result of the study showed that: (1) two shrub species show a random distribution trend in all three plots except an aggregated trend only at the smaller scale on the upper slope; (2) the majority of subterranean rodents preferred to select their burrowing sites under the shrub crown, and these selected shrub individuals had generally larger crown length than those unselected individuals. At the same time, the majority of these burrowing sites were located on the lower right direction. (3) The distribution of rodents holes differ across the slopes in the study area. In the three samples, the relative locations of burrowing sites to shrubs are mostly distributed down slope of shrubs. From upper slope to lower slope, this trend gradually enhanced. Our conclusion is that the increase in shrubs represents a pioneer phase in the rehabilitation of degraded sandy land ecosystems, and colonization of subterranean rangeland rodents near the shrubs is a clear indicator of stabilization of sand dunes.

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Influence of shrub encroachment on CT-measured soil macropore characteristics in the Inner Mongolia grassland of northern China

Cited by 64 publications

References 54 publications

Application of X‐ray tomography to quantify macropore characteristics of loess soil under two perennial plants

Application of X‐ray tomography to quantify macropore characteristics of loess soil under two perennial plants

Microsite and grazing intensity drive infiltration in a semiarid woodland

Spatial Association of Shrubs and Their Interrelation to Burrowing Site Preference of Subterranean Rodents on Dune Slope in the Otindag Sandy Land, China

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