Soil organic carbon as functions of slope aspects and soil depths in a semiarid alpine region of Northwest China

Zhu, Meng; Feng, Qi; Qin, Yi-Ping; Cao, Jianjun; Li, Huiya; Zhao, Yu

doi:10.1016/j.catena.2017.01.011

Cited by 67 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…In the present study, the precipitation range remained small, with the elevations of the three volcanoes being approximately 450–500 m, and the relative heights being less than 200 m. Therefore, the soil nutrients and microbes were mainly effected by soil temperature . Due to the lower soil temperature of the northern aspect, the soil microbial activity and the decomposition rate of soil organic matter in the northern aspect were decreased, which resulted in higher SOC and other nutrients .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 57%

“…In this case, the variation of soil microbes would be inconspicuous even after long‐term succession. However, the fact is that soil microbes and soil environments always influence each other . In particular, succession of soil microbes will lead to soil changes, and in turn, the soil changes further affect microbes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Wudalianchi volcanoes in Heilongjiang province, China have created a natural laboratory that includes 14 volcanoes from hundreds to thousands of years old and provides possibilities for investigating patterns of microbial succession across a long‐term chronosequence. Additionally, different slope aspects of each volcano have different sunshine conditions, leading to different temperature and moisture, resulting in the different successional environments, which have been demonstrated to influence soil microbes significantly . In this area, it is possible to investigate microbial succession over a large temporal scale (volcanoes of different ages) and different soil environments (southern and northern slope aspects of volcanoes).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Similar soil microbial community structure across different environments after long‐term succession: evidence from volcanoes of different ages

Zhang

Luo

et al. 2018

J Basic Microbiol

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Soil microbes play critical roles in global biogeochemical cycles, but their succession patterns across long temporal scales have rarely been studied. In this study, soil samples were collected from three volcanoes in Wudalianchi, northeastern China: Laoheishan (LH, approximately 240 years old), Dongjiaodebushan (DJ, 0.45-0.6 million years old), and Nangelaqiushan (NG, 0.8-1.3 million years old). For each volcano, both southern (S) and northern (N) slope aspects were sampled. Soil microbial communities were analyzed using phospholipid fatty acid analysis (PLFA). The results showed that soil properties and microbial biomass changed perceptibly among different volcanoes and different slope aspects. Almost all of the detected soil nutrient contents of LH were lowest, and total microbial biomass of LH was 40 and 36% lower than those of NG and DJ, respectively. LH was significantly different from NG and DJ in soil microbial community structure with a higher relative abundance of fungi and a lower relative abundance of actinomycetes and bacteria. However, for the two ancient volcanoes (NG and DJ), soil microbial community structures were highly similar among different ages and different slope aspects. No difference was detected in any of the measured microbial indices, including richness, evenness, Shannon's diversity, Simpson's diversity and the relative abundance of different microbial groups. The results indicated that while soil microbial biomass may change across different soil environments after long-term succession, soil microbial community structure can remain relatively stable. The results further indicated that soil microbes may show different successional patterns in different stages of succession.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 57%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Similar soil microbial community structure across different environments after long‐term succession: evidence from volcanoes of different ages

Zhang

Luo

et al. 2018

J Basic Microbiol

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“…A few of these mountains, however, have four slope aspects, typically including the two aspects mentioned above, as well as the southwest-facing (SW; i.e., semi-sunny slope aspect) and northwest-facing (NW; i.e., the semi-shady slope aspect) slope aspects. Being mainly covered by forest and grassland, these mountains are significant carbon pools in the region (Wagner et al 2015), although this role is likely influenced by the slope aspect (Qin et al 2016, Zhu et al 2017. Therefore, a better understanding of the differences in vegetation characteristics and soil parameters due to differences in the slope aspect is important for sustainable environmental management (M aren et al 2015), conservation of biodiversity, and restoration of degraded areas (Ahmed et al 2015), especially in mountainous areas.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Controlling factors of plant community composition with respect to the slope aspect gradient in the Qilian Mountains

et al. 2019

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Slope aspect can affect soil temperature and soil type distribution, which, in turn, is likely to influence plant community composition. Three Qilian mountains, located in the northeastern part of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau, China, with four distinct slope aspects including south‐facing (SF), southwest‐facing (SW), northwest‐facing (NW), and north‐facing (NF) slope aspects, were studied to investigate the impact of slope aspect on plant assemblages. The results indicated that the environmental conditions were favorable under the NF and NW slope aspects as the soil water, soil organic carbon (SOC), and soil total nitrogen (STN) contents were significantly higher, and soil temperature (ST) and soil bulk density (SBD) were significantly lower than under the SF and SW aspects. Under all slope aspects, however, SOC, STN, and soil total phosphate in the top 0.2 m of topsoil accounted for about 60% of its total quantity, to a soil depth of 0.6 m. The plant communities on the SF and SW slopes were found to be primarily composed of Poa pratensis, Potentilla anrisena, and Carex aridula. In contrast, the plant community on the NW slope was mainly composed of Kobresia humilis, Carex crebra, and Potentilla bifurca, while on the NF slope it was mainly composed of Picea crassifolia, Carex scabrirostris, and Polygonum macrophyllum. The order of the influence of environmental factors on species distributions was ST > SBD > sand > STN. Results suggest that the slope aspect has an important role in the regulation of the soil environment and plant assemblages and that ST and SBD were the main factors influencing plant community composition. Furthermore, evidence from this study suggests that these mountains will become increasingly vulnerable to global warming. Thus, the plant community composition on these mountains must be monitored continuously in order to allow for strategic adaptive management.

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“…In forested treatments, soils were sampled from nine 10 m × 10 m plots that were arranged at a 10 m spacing both up-down and on the contour in the middle slope, while in the abandoned and the cultivated treatments, soils were sampled from three or five 10 m × 10 m plots arranged at a 10 m spacing along the horizontal contour, due to the limited areas of these lands. In a small block, if the replicated plots could represent the whole block, this non-random sampling method was also feasible, as has been advocated by several other researchers (e.g., [15,23,29,30]). To improve the comparability between the forested treatments and the non-forested treatments, a majority of the non-forested lands were sampled in the vicinity of forested lands.…”

Section: Variables ρ S Soil Phmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Afforestation on Soil Bulk Density and pH in the Loess Plateau, China

Zhang

Adamowski

Deo

et al. 2018

Water

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Sustainable land management requires a clear understanding of the changes in soil quality. In exploring whether afforestation has the potential to improve the soil quality in China’s Loess Plateau, soil bulk density ( ρ s ) and pH were compared under five treatments: three forested treatments (16-and 40-year-old apricot stands, and 40-year-old poplar stands), and individual abandoned and cultivated treatments, serving as the controls. Bulk density across the 0–1.0 m soil profile under the 16-year-old apricot treatment (1.12 Mg m−3) and 40-year-old poplar treatment (1.16 Mg m−3) were significantly smaller than their counterparts under the cultivated (1.20 Mg m−3) and abandoned treatments (1.23 Mg m−3). Soil pH of the cultivated treatment (8.46) was significantly lower than that of the abandoned treatment (8.51) or than that of any forested treatment. The ρ s and pH were both affected by stand age, with the ρ s and pH of the 40-year-old apricot treatment being 0.10 Mg m−3 and 0.05 units greater, respectively, than those of the 16-year-old apricot treatment. Treatment and soil depth appeared to interact to influence the ρ s , but this same interaction did not influence the soil pH. This study suggested that afforestation species and stand age should be taken into consideration to harvest maximum benefits from the afforestation efforts.

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Soil organic carbon as functions of slope aspects and soil depths in a semiarid alpine region of Northwest China

Cited by 67 publications

References 36 publications

Similar soil microbial community structure across different environments after long‐term succession: evidence from volcanoes of different ages

Similar soil microbial community structure across different environments after long‐term succession: evidence from volcanoes of different ages

Controlling factors of plant community composition with respect to the slope aspect gradient in the Qilian Mountains

Effects of Afforestation on Soil Bulk Density and pH in the Loess Plateau, China

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