Caragana korshinskii Kom. plantation reduced soil aggregate stability and aggregate-associated organic carbon on desert steppe

PeerJ

article

Qi Lu¹  Hongbin Ma¹  Yao Zhou¹  Roberto Calvelo-Pereira³  Yan Shen¹ 

[1] Ningxia University, School of Agricultural, Yinchuan;Ningxia University, Breeding Base for State Key Laboratory of Land Degradation and Ecological Restoration of Northwest China, Yinchuan;Massey University, School of Agriculture and Environment

关键词: Caragana shrubs;    Desert steppe grassland;    Soil aggregate stability;    Aggregate-associated organic carbon;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.12507

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Background After implementing of the “Grain-for-Green” project, Caragana korshinskii Kom. has been widely planted in China’s arid regions. Although natural restoration grassland and artificial Caragana plantations measures have long been focuses in carbon research, the combined influence of natural restoration grassland and artificial Caragana plantation measures on aggregate stability and the aggregate-associated organic carbon (OC) remains unclear. Method We selected natural grassland (NG) and three different densities of Caragana plantations (high planting density, HG; middle planting density, MD; low planting density, LD) on desert steppe. The soil aggregate distribution and stability index such as fractal dimension (D), mean weight diameter (MWD), geometric mean diameter (GMD), percentage of aggregation destruction (PAD), as well as aggregate-associated OC concentration and stock were measured. Results 2 mm) and mesoaggregates (0.25–2 mm) under dry sieving while microaggregates (<0.25 mm) were preponderant under wet sieving (more than 57%). Overall, compared with Caragana2 mm and <0.25 mm. These results suggested that natural grassland restoration measures could improve the soil aggregate stability and aggregate-associated OC concentration better than Caragana plantation restoration measures, which NG may be optimal for increasing carbon sequestration and stabilizing soil aggregates on desert steppe.

【 授权许可】

CC BY