Soil Quality Indicators in Relation to Land Use and Topography in a Small Catchment on the Loess Plateau of China

Abstract

Better understanding of how the loess soils respond to topography and land use under catchment-scale vegetation restoration is needed to enable science-based land management interventions for the policy-driven "Grain-for-Green" eco-restoration program in the Loess Plateau of China. The objective of this study was to characterize the relationships of four selected soil quality indicators to land use under vegetation restoration and topography for a small catchment (0Á58 km 2 ) in the Loess Plateau. The major land uses established in the catchment are cropland, fallow (i.e., natural revegetation), grassland, and jujube orchard. The four soil quality indicators were soil organic carbon (SOC), soil total nitrogen (STN), soil total phosphorus (STP), and mean root zone soil water content during the wet season (MRZSWwet). SOC, STN, and MRZSWwet were significantly different (p < 0Á05) for different land uses. Grassland showed the highest values for these three properties, whereas cropland had relatively low values for SOC and STN. Land use had no effect on STP, although the lowest value was observed in grassland. Spatial analysis showed that various relations between soil quality indicators and topography (slope and elevation) were observed. These relations were generally weak for most of them, and they varied with land uses. Further analyses indicated that land uses, slope, and elevation had significant effects on the relations between different soil quality indicators. The results here should provide useful information for the further development of "Grain-for-Green" program.

Influence of humic acid applications on modulus of rupture, aggregate stability, electrical conductivity, carbon and nitrogen content of a crusting problem soil

“…The amount, type and location of organic matter may be some of the best integrating indicators of many physical, chemical and biological processes (Lewandowski and Zumwinkle, 1999). SOC has been reported as dynamic soil quality indicators (Shukla et al, 2006;Zhao et al, 2015). Therefore, to assess the effect of changes in SOC content on soil structure condition, the aggregate stability can be considered as a good indicator (Moncada et al, 2013).…”

Alleviating aluminum toxicity in an acid sulfate soil from Peninsular Malaysia by calcium silicate application

“…Moreover, the soil system is damaged by millennial use and abuse of soil resources, and the soils are failing to supply humankind with goods and services due to the degradation of soil structure, loss of soil quality, and loss of soil fertility (Dai et al, 2015;Masto et al, 2015;Zhao et al, 2015;Cerda, 1998;Costa et al, 2015). Pollution is one of the triggering factors of soil degradation and it is a worldwide problem Roy and Mcdonald, 2015;Mahmoud and Abd El-Kader, 2015).…”

Integrating a mini catchment with mulching for soil water management in a sloping jujube orchard on the semiarid Loess Plateau of China

“…Vegetation could protect the soil surface from drop impact, increasing resistance to concentrated flow erosion (Cerdà, 1998;Keesstra et al, 2009), and decreasing runoff discharge during rainstorms (Seutloali and Beckedahl, 2015; Q. Y. . Vegetation cover on the Loess Plateau was significantly improved after the implementation of the "Grain for Green" project, a large-scale ecological project by converting hillslope farmland to forest (including economic plantations such as orchards) or grassland (Liu et al, 2014;Yu et al, 2014;Zhao et al, 2015). However, regional-scale vegetation restoration in a short time increases soil water consumption quickly and this further deepens soil water deficit in this region .…”