The effect of low-covered sand-fixing forest belts on restoration of the soil and vegetation

Lina, 姜丽娜 Jiang; Wenbin, 杨文斌 Yang; Qi, 卢琦 Lu; Yunfeng, 姚云峰 Yao; Ruilan, 蔺瑞岚 Lin

doi:10.5846/stxb201203010278

Cited by 2 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…Soil porosity, field water holding capacity, organic carbon, pH, and nutrient content decreased with soil depth. Many scholars have observed similar patterns in their studies of forest age and soil properties in artificial and shelter forests ( Jiang et al, 2013 ; Wu et al, 2010 ; Yesilonis et al, 2016 ). The low water content of the top soil layer of the Populus simonii shelter forests in all age classes is mainly due to the high wind speed and strong solar radiation in the Horqin Sandy Land; the top soil layer evaporates faster due to the wind, temperature, and humidity in the surface environment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 78%

“…The physical properties of the sandy soil changed and major nutrient elements of the soil increased. This led to a replenishment of the accumulated nutrients in the topsoil in the original sandy soil ( Gao & Huang, 2020 ; Jiang et al, 2013 ). Vegetation and soil play a complementary and positive role in the early stages of afforestation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Numerous studies have demonstrated the high water utilization of Populus shelterbelts ( Fu, Sun & Luo, 2016 ). These shelterbelts prolong the retention time of soil organic carbon by reducing soil Q10 ( Zhang et al, 2022 ) , alter the physico--chemical properties and microbial population of the soil, and increase the diversity of the vegetation ( Jiang et al, 2013 ). The study area of this study is located in Naiman County, Tongliao City, Inner Mongolia, at the southern edge of the Horqin Sandy Land.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impacts of forest age on soil characteristics and fertility quality of Populus simonii shelter forest at the southern edge of the Horqin Sandy Land, China

Guo,

Yang,

et al. 2024

PeerJ

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The sand fixing shelter forests in the Horqin Sandy Land are a key area in the “3-North” Shelter Forest Program in China, which has a history of over 50 years of artificial afforestation. Populus simonii Carr is one of the most dominant silvicultural species in the region. The aim of this study is to understand the soil characteristics and soil fertility of Populus simonii shelter forests at different growth stages and to establish a scientific basis for soil nutrient regulation and sustainable management of Populus simonii shelter forests at the southern edge of the Horqin Sandy Land. Sample plots were selected for young (≤15 a), middle-aged (16–25 a), near-mature (26–30 a), mature (31–40 a), and over-mature (≥41 a) forests. Each forest studied was in a state of natural restoration with uniform stand conditions and no artificial fertilizer was applied. These sites were selected to study changes in the soil characteristics in soil depths of 0–20, 20–40, and 40–60 cm. In order to avoid the problem of multicollinearity between soil variables and to reduce redundancy, principal component analysis (PCA), Pearson’s correlation analysis, and Norm value calculation were used to select the least correlated indicators with the highest factor loadings. This was used to establish the minimum data set. The soil fertility quality of these shelterbelts in different forest ages was quantified using the soil quality index (SQI). In the growth stage from young to nearly mature forests, the soil bulk weight and pH decreased with increasing forest age. Soil capillary porosity, noncapillary porosity, total porosity, water content, field water holding capacity, and organic carbon content increased with increasing forest age and soil nutrient content gradually improved. At the stage of near-mature to over-mature forests, the effect of forest age on soil bulk density was not significant and all other soil characteristics decreased to varying degrees as the forest age increased. The soil also developed from alkaline to neutral. The SQI of the total data set and the SQI of the minimum data set consistently showed that near-mature forests (NMF) > middle-aged forests (MAF) > mature forests (MF) > over-mature forests (OMF) > young forests (YF). The results of the two evaluation systems showed a significant positive correlation (P < 0.05, R 2 = 0.8263) indicating that it is feasible to use the minimum data set to evaluate the soil fertility of shelter forests of different forest ages. The age of the forest has an obvious effect on the soil characteristics and overall soil fertility of shelter forests. The Populus simonii shelter forests on the southern edge of the Horqin Sandy Land have great soil development at the early stage of afforestation and the soil nutrient content gradually increases. The soil fertility reaches a peak when the forest is nearly mature and the soil fertility declines after the age of the forest reaches 30 years.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 78%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%