Vegetation pattern variation, soil degradation and their relationship along a grassland desertification gradient in Horqin Sandy Land, northern China

Zuo, Xiaoan; Zhao, Haichao; Zhang, Xueyong; Guo, Yafei; Yun, Jianying; Wang, Shaokun; Miyasaka, Takafumi

doi:10.1007/s00254-008-1617-1

Cited by 60 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Consistent with this model are the relationships between vegetation characteristics and soil C and N in several studies (Solon et al 2012;El-Ghani and Amer 2003;Gross et al 1995;Zuo et al 2009a). All these studies show the great significance of soil C and N in determining plant community structure.…”

Section: Vegetation Succession Soil Variation and Their Relationshipssupporting

confidence: 66%

Spatial heterogeneity of soil and vegetation characteristics and soil-vegetation relationships along an ecotone in Southern Mu Us Sandy Land, China

Xie

Qiu

et al. 2015

J Soils Sediments

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Purpose This study aims to examine the changes in the spatial heterogeneity of soil properties at different soil layers, the spatial heterogeneity of soil and vegetation characteristics along an ecotone, and soil-vegetation relationships along the ecotone in a critical area of desertification. Materials and methods A study site was established across a Lespedeza potaninii (dominant) community (LPC) and an Artemisia ordosica (dominant) community (AOC), with the ecotone between these two communities. In this study, Balong the ecotone^means from LPC, via the ecotone, and then to AOC. Three parallel transects (300-m long) were arranged at 50-m intervals along the site. Along each transect, at 10-m spacings, 1 m×1-m quadrats were marked for the vegetation survey and soil sampling. Soil samples were analyzed in the laboratory after natural air-drying. Data analyses were conducted with a combination of classical and geostatistical methods. Results and discussion In most cases, species importance values and soil properties changed significantly (P<0.05) along the ecotone. Most soil and vegetation variables were moderately spatially autocorrelated. Kriging interpolated maps showed patch patterns of soil chemical properties. The C/(Co+C) values of soil properties were larger at 5-10-cm than those at 0-5-cm. Vegetation characteristics were mainly positively correlated with soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), and electrical conductivity (EC). TN at 0-5-cm (TN1), EC at 0-5-cm (EC1), and available potassium at 5-10-cm (AK2) were selected as the predictors for plant species richness and diversity in the stepwise regression analysis between vegetation characteristics and soil properties. Conclusions Soil nutrients decreased significantly (P<0.05) along the ecotone. Soil and vegetation properties had moderate spatial heterogeneity. Soil properties had a stronger spatial heterogeneity at subsurface layers compared to surface layers. TN1, EC1, and AK2 were the predominant factors for the plant community structure along the ecotone in the critical area of desertification.

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Section: Vegetation Succession Soil Variation and Their Relationshipssupporting

confidence: 66%

Spatial heterogeneity of soil and vegetation characteristics and soil-vegetation relationships along an ecotone in Southern Mu Us Sandy Land, China

Xie

Qiu

et al. 2015

J Soils Sediments

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“…In S3, sierozem soil and calcic brown soil had similar effects on vegetation recovery, but their effects on vegetation recovery were slower than loessal soil. In addition, the SOM and total amount of nutrition elements in the soil were positively correlated with plant growth (Fu, Liu, Ma, & Zhu, 2004;Zuo et al, 2008;Liu et al, 2012a,b). Given that most of the soil in western China is alkaline , a high pH may cause land salinization and hamper vegetation recovery.…”

Section: Effects Of Environmental Factors On Vegetation Recoverymentioning

confidence: 99%

The vegetation recovery pattern and affecting factors after pipeline disturbance in northwest China

Xiao

Shi

Wang

et al. 2016

Journal for Nature Conservation

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a b s t r a c tPipeline construction has severe disturbance on local ecosystems, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. Vegetation recovery along the pipeline is crucial for ecosystem management and eco-environment restoration. In this study, three typical regions with different backgrounds and engineering characteristics in northwest China were selected to analyze vegetation recovery pattern after pipeline disturbance by using comparative analysis and RDA analysis. The results showed that vegetation condition in the zone 10 m from the pipeline was worse than construction area above the pipeline, and was identified as a key area in which vegetation restoration needs to occur. Rainfall and total sunshine duration were found to be key factors affecting vegetation recovery. Additionally, recovery duration also played important roles in vegetation recovery. The affecting factors can be divided into two categories: environmental factors; and, engineering factors. Environmental factors contribute more to the differences of vegetation in different regions, while the engineering factors may play a more important role in relation to vegetation recovery within a region. In general, the effects of pipeline construction on vegetation pattern were confined to 300 m from the pipeline based on this study. However, artificial measures may hasten the vegetation recovery process. This research could provide scientific guidance for ecological restoration and environmental management for the construction of linear projects.

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“…Due to the long-term influences of human activities (e.g., extensive firewood consumption, heavy grazing and land reclamation for agriculture) and climate changes (e.g., changes of precipitation regimes and temperature), this region has suffered serious desertification over recent decades, resulting in the scattered tree grassland to be the Horqin sandy grassland ). To date, most sandy grasslands have degenerated into fixed, semi-fixed, semi-mobile and mobile sandy lands Zuo et al, 2009). The elevation of this region is about 480 m, and the climate is temperate, semiarid continental and monsoonal, and it is characterized by low precipitation and frequent occurrence of strong winds.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of soil moisture condition under different land uses in the arid region of Horqin sandy land, northern China

2015

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Abstract. Land use plays an important role in controlling spatial and temporal variations of soil moisture by influencing infiltration rates, runoff and evapotranspiration, which is important to crop growth and vegetation restoration in semiarid environments, such as Horqin sandy land in north China. However, few studies have been conducted comparing differences of dynamics of soil water conditions and the responses of soil to infiltration under different land use types in semiarid area. Five different land use types were selected to analyze soil moisture variations in relation to land use patterns during the growing season of 2 years. Results showed that soil moisture condition was affected by different land uses in semi-arid sandy soils. The higher soil moisture content among different land uses was exhibited by the grassland, followed by cropland, poplar land, inter-dunes and shrub land. The temporal variations of soil moisture in different land uses were not always consistent with the rainfall due to the dry sequence. Moreover, soil water at the surface, in the root zone and at the deep soil layer indicated statistical differences for different types of land cover. Meanwhile, temporal variations of soil moisture profile changed with precipitation. However, in the deep soil layer, there was a clear lag in response to precipitation. In addition, seasonal variations of profile soil moisture were classified into two types: increasing and waving types. And the stable soil water layer was at 80-120 cm. Furthermore, the infiltration depth exhibited a positive correlation with precipitation under all land uses. This study provided an insight into the implications for land and agricultural water management in this area.

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Vegetation pattern variation, soil degradation and their relationship along a grassland desertification gradient in Horqin Sandy Land, northern China

Cited by 60 publications

References 41 publications

Spatial heterogeneity of soil and vegetation characteristics and soil-vegetation relationships along an ecotone in Southern Mu Us Sandy Land, China

Spatial heterogeneity of soil and vegetation characteristics and soil-vegetation relationships along an ecotone in Southern Mu Us Sandy Land, China

The vegetation recovery pattern and affecting factors after pipeline disturbance in northwest China

Analysis of soil moisture condition under different land uses in the arid region of Horqin sandy land, northern China

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