Soil surface properties in Mediterranean mountain ecosystems: Effects of environmental factors and implications of management

Oyonarte, Cecilio; Aranda, V.; Durante, Pilar

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2007.07.034

Cited by 45 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…which is consistent with the finding of Oztas et al (2003), Yimer et al (2006), Oyonarte et al (2008) and Roukos et al (2011b). The increase in soil pH with altitude is associated with temperature.…”

Section: Factors Controlling Aboveground Biomass and Species Richnesssupporting

confidence: 92%

Effect of altitude and soil properties on biomass and plant richness in the grasslands of Tibet, China, and Manang District, Nepal

Bhandari

Zhang

2019

Ecosphere

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Citation: Bhandari, J., and Y. Zhang. 2019. Effect of altitude and soil properties on biomass and plant richness in the grasslands of Tibet, China, and Manang District, Nepal.Abstract. A positive relationship between plant species richness and biomass has often documented in temperate grassland systems but is still largely lacking in the Himalayan region. Considering altitude and soil properties as major factors influencing species richness and biomass in the Himalayan grasslands, we tested the hypothesis that peak aboveground biomass and species richness increase with higher levels of soil nutrients and decrease with altitude. Our study was conducted in the grasslands of Tibet, China, and Manang District, Nepal, which represent, respectively, the northern and southern slopes of the central Himalayan grasslands. During the growing seasons, we measured vegetation aboveground biomass and soil properties along an altitudinal gradient on the northern slope in 2011 and 2012, and on the grasslands of the southern slope in 2017. Data were analyzed with a Spearman correlation analysis, classification and regression tree model, and the structural equation modeling (SEM) to identify the key factors determining aboveground biomass and species richness. The results demonstrated that aboveground biomass and species richness on the southern slope were significantly greater at the lowest altitude zone compared to middle and higher zones, whereas on the northern slope, aboveground biomass and species richness were not significantly different at three altitudinal zones. There was a significant positive correlation between aboveground biomass and species richness on both northern and southern slopes. However, the slope was found higher in grasslands of southern slope compared to the grasslands of northern slope. Classification and regression tree analysis and SEM indicated that altitude is most closely associated with large-scale variations in aboveground biomass and species richness. The Spearman correlation analysis revealed that altitude and soil pH were negatively related to aboveground biomass in these grasslands. This study demonstrates that on northern and southern slopes of the Himalayan Range, a positive relation between plant species richness and biomass is determined more by altitude than soil nutrients.

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Section: Factors Controlling Aboveground Biomass and Species Richnesssupporting

confidence: 92%

Effect of altitude and soil properties on biomass and plant richness in the grasslands of Tibet, China, and Manang District, Nepal

Bhandari

Zhang

2019

Ecosphere

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“…Also, differences in the rates of C mineralized among sites may be mostly related to the relative amounts of C POM (r=0.89, p<0.05), but not with those of other labile pools. Our results are in agreement with the positive relationship between C mineralization rates and C POM contents reported for eucalypt soils ) and also for Mediterranean mountain soils (Oyonarte et al 2008). Variability in C mineralization rate may not only be explained by different C availability (relative amounts of C POM ), but also by soil pH.…”

Section: Anaerobic Incubationsupporting

confidence: 92%

Soil C and N dynamics within a precipitation gradient in Mediterranean eucalypt plantations

Gómez-Rey¹,

Madeira²,

González-Prieto

et al. 2010

Plant Soil

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Soil C and N dynamics were evaluated in five eucalypt plantations within a precipitation gradient (500-2,000 mm) in Portugal. Soil physical and chemical properties, total and labile (particulate organic matter, hydrolyzable, hot water soluble and microbial) soil C and N pools, and C and N mineralization were measured to characterize the C and N dynamics and their controlling factors within this gradient. Contents of total and labile soil organic C and N were positively correlated with the mean annual precipitation. A similar relationship was observed for net N mineralization (anaerobic and long-term aerobic incubation), gross N mineralization ( 15 N isotope dilution technique) and C mineralization.In contrast, rates of C and N mineralization (per unit of C and N) were higher in the driest sites due to their higher proportion of particulate organic matter C. Net and gross N mineralization were strongly correlated and showed similar controlling factors (mean annual precipitation, total and labile C and N and extractable P contents), suggesting that net N mineralization during long-term aerobic incubation reflects gross N transformations. Although, gross NO 3 -N production and gross NO 3 -N immobilization were observed in all sites, net nitrification in the drier sites was not observed in the first weeks of the study. Our results suggest that, under Mediterranean conditions, mean annual precipitation is the major factor determining the C and N dynamics in soils with Eucalyptus plantations.

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“…However, inter-relationships between soil type and species composition (Ladegaard-Pedersen et al, 2005) may obscure the primary drivers of SOC stability. Oyonarte et al (2008) for example, noted that in Mediterranean mountain environments, physico-chemical soil properties are influenced by lithology, while intrinsic SOC characteristics are more plant-dependent. Therefore, it is important to consider the influence of tree species composition on the storage and stability of SOC at a given site, as it may inform forest management towards for practices that increase the quantity and long-term stability of the SOC stocks.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does tree species composition control soil organic carbon pools in Mediterranean mountain forests?

Díaz‐Pinés

Sánchez

Miegroet

et al. 2011

Forest Ecology and Management

108

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Soil surface properties in Mediterranean mountain ecosystems: Effects of environmental factors and implications of management

Cited by 45 publications

References 34 publications

Effect of altitude and soil properties on biomass and plant richness in the grasslands of Tibet, China, and Manang District, Nepal

Effect of altitude and soil properties on biomass and plant richness in the grasslands of Tibet, China, and Manang District, Nepal

Soil C and N dynamics within a precipitation gradient in Mediterranean eucalypt plantations

Does tree species composition control soil organic carbon pools in Mediterranean mountain forests?

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