Effects of Different Afforestation Years on Soil Properties and Quality

Abstract

As an important means of curbing soil degradation, afforestation has a profound impact on regional soil properties and quality. However, it is still unclear regarding how to conduct a systematic assessment of soil properties and soil quality and the impact of vegetation characteristics and plant functional traits in leguminous plantations with different afforestation years in drylands. Therefore, we investigated the vegetation characteristics and determined the functional traits of leaves and roots and the soil physicochemical properties of Caragana korshinskii plantations with 13, 35, and 55 years. The results showed that tree height; crown diameter (CD); root dry matter content; root water content; soil clay, silt, and sand contents; bulk density (BD); soil water content; soil organic carbon (SOC); total nitrogen (TN); available nitrogen; total phosphorus (TP); available phosphorus (AP); and soil quality index (SQI) changed significantly with an increase in afforestation years. Although the specific leaf area did not show a significant variation, it had a significant negative effect on soil properties and SQI, except for soil sand and BD. Soil sand and BD decreased with the afforestation succession, but the succession pattern of soil clay, silt, SOC, TN, TP, and AP was 13 years < 35 years < 55 years, and SQI increased from 0.20 (13 years) to 0.77 (55 years). This indicated that long-term legume afforestation led to the transformation of soil texture from silty loam to silt and significantly improved the soil properties and quality in the study area.

Soil moisture and temperature dynamics in juvenile and mature forest as a result of tree growth, hydrometeorological forcings, and drought

“…In particular, the juvenile plantation, which was only 6 years old at the time of the drought reported in this study, is characterized by an open canopy (Figure 2) and possibly low levels of organic matter in the soil. In fact, afforestation efforts often take several decades to improve various soil properties (Korkanç, 2014; Mongil–Manso et al, 2022; Yao et al, 2023). As a result, the variation in soil moisture observed within the juvenile plantation is most likely caused by the increased physiological water demand of the trees after the drought, as well as differences in forest structure compared to the mature forest.…”

Changes in Organic Carbon Stock in Soil and Whole Tree Biomass in Afforested Areas in Latvia

“…Soil BD measurements can enhance our comprehension of soil functions and provide insights into how land use impact soil organic C stocks. A recent study conducted in China showed that as the number of years of afforestation increased, there was a gradual decrease in BD [ 22 ].…”