Soil environment and growth adaptation strategies of Amorpha fruticosa as affected by mulching in a moderately saline wasteland

Abstract

Understanding the growth adaptive strategies of Amorpha fruticosa in response to the changes of saline soil environment under different mulch types (plastic mulch [PM]; sand mulch [SM]; rice straw mulch [RSM]; and control with non-mulching [CK]) is very important, as this determines afforestation success in a moderately saline soil. The species' soil microenvironments, fine root traits, and biomass allocation patterns were investigated in 2016 and 2017. Compared to CK, electrical conductivity of saturated paste extracts (EC e) reduced significantly under the mulching treatments especially under PM. Both PM and SM effectively increased soil temperature (T soil) and available nitrogen (AN), but reduced soil organic carbon (SOC) in 2016; while RSM increased soil nutrients, but reduced T soil. The A. fruticosa under RSM (following PM and SM) invested more biomass, to shoots relative to roots, to coarse roots relative to fine roots, and to stems and leaves at the expense of coarse roots and fine roots from 2016 to 2017, as its saline soil environment especially the low T soil improved. In both years, the fine roots of A. fruticosa under PM employed exploitation potential or 'extensive strategy' (fine root mass density; fine root length density) more successfully at the 0-40 cm, while the fine roots under CK used higher exploitation efficiency or 'intensive strategy' (specific root length; and specific root area). The indicators of intensive strategy at the 40-60 cm were higher under PM than SM and RSM. Therefore, PM will better help A. fruticosa adapt to the harsh soil environment during afforestation in a moderately saline wasteland.

Deficit saline water irrigation under reduced tillage and residue mulch improves soil health in sorghum-wheat cropping system in semi-arid region

“…The sustainability of agriculture in these regions is always under threat because of inherent soil salinity, scarcity of fresh water and dependency on saline-water for irrigation 5,6 . Low rainfall, high temperature and evapotranspiration demand favour root zone salinization 7,8 . A further buildup of salinity is through saline groundwater irrigation to meet the high crop water demand 9 .…”

Short-term effect of oil-mulch on vegetation dynamic; Integration of ecological and remote sensing-based approaches

“…2). These positive effects of oil-mulch treatment have probably resulted from three mechanisms include 1) stabilizing effects on sand dunes (Wuddivira et al, 2013), 2) decreasing water evaporation and preserving available soil moisture (Kowsar et al, 1969;Mulumba and Lal, 2008;Liu et al, 2020) and 3) increasing the rate of seedling survival (Akbarian and Mosavi, 2006) and germination (Farahpour et al, 2005;Jafarian, 2006). Arid and semi-arid regions are known as water-limited areas (Shojaei et al, 2020), and thereby, soil moisture is an important factor that controls the seedling germination, survival, and growth (Zhenghu et al, 2004).…”

Short‐term effect of oil‐mulch on vegetation dynamics; Integration of ecological and remote sensing‐based approaches

“…These positive effects of oil-mulch treatment F I G U R E 3 Mean ± SE comparison of vegetation and diversity components in control and mulch treated sites. Significant differences are indicated by different letters have probably resulted from three mechanisms include 1) stabilizing effects on sand dunes (Wuddivira et al, 2013), 2) decreasing water evaporation and preserving available soil moisture (Kowsar et al, 1969;Liu et al, 2020;Mulumba & Lal, 2008) and 3) increasing the rate of seedling survival (Akbarian & Mosavi, 2006) and germination (Farahpour et al, 2005;Jafarian, 2006). Arid and semi-arid regions are known as water-limited areas , and thereby, soil moisture is an important factor that controls the seedling germination, survival, and growth (Zhenghu et al, 2004).…”