State Key Laboratory for Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shanxi, 712100, China.
Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Science and Ministry of Water Resources, Yangling, Shanxi, 712100, China.
J Environ Manage. 2022 Jan 15;302(Pt A):113985. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113985. Epub 2021 Oct 23.
Soil degradation is significantly increased driven by soil nutrient loss and soil erodibility, thus, hampering the sustainable development of the ecological environment and agricultural production. Vegetation restoration has been widely adopted to prevent soil degradation given its role in improving soil nutrients and soil erodibility. However, it is unclear which vegetation type has the best improving capacity from soil nutrient and soil erodibility perspectives. This study selected three vegetation restoration types of grasslands (GL), shrublands (SL), and forestlands (FL) along the five slope positions (i.e., top, upper, middle, lower, and foot slope), to investigate the effects of vegetation restoration types on soil nutrients and soil erodibility. All vegetation restoration types were restored for 20 years from croplands (CL). We used comprehensive soil nutrient index (CSNI) and comprehensive soil erodibility index (CSEI) formed by a weighted summation method to reflect the effect of vegetation restoration on the improving capacity of soil nutrient and erodibility. The results showed the vegetation types with the highest comprehensive soil quality index (CSQI) at the top, upper, middle, lower and foot slope were FL (1.92), FL (1.98), SL (2.15), FL (2.37) and GL (3.93), respectively. When only one vegetation type was considered on the entire slope, SL (0.59) and FL (0.59) had the highest CSNI, the SL had the lowest CSEI (0.34) and the highest CSQI (1.89). The CSNI was mainly influenced by soil structure stability index (SSSI), sand content, silt + clay particles, and CSEI was controlled by soil organic matter (SOM), macroaggregates and microaggregates. Moreover, the CSQI was influenced by pH, silt and clay content, and biome coverage (BC). The study suggested the SL were advised as the best vegetation restoration type on the whole slope from improving soil nutrients and soil erodibility.
土壤退化是由土壤养分损失和土壤可蚀性增加驱动的，从而阻碍了生态环境和农业生产的可持续发展。植被恢复已被广泛采用，以防止土壤退化，因为它在改善土壤养分和土壤可蚀性方面发挥着作用。然而，从土壤养分和土壤可蚀性的角度来看，哪种植被类型具有最佳的改善能力尚不清楚。本研究选择了草地（GL）、灌丛（SL）和林地（FL）三种植被恢复类型，沿着五个坡位（即坡顶、上坡、中坡、下坡和坡脚），研究植被恢复类型对土壤养分和土壤可蚀性的影响。所有植被恢复类型都是从耕地（CL）恢复 20 年。我们使用综合土壤养分指数（CSNI）和综合土壤可蚀性指数（CSEI），通过加权求和法来反映植被恢复对土壤养分和可蚀性改善能力的影响。结果表明，在坡顶、上坡、中坡、下坡和坡脚处具有最高综合土壤质量指数（CSQI）的植被类型分别为 FL（1.92）、FL（1.98）、SL（2.15）、FL（2.37）和 GL（3.93）。当仅考虑整个坡度上的一种植被类型时，SL（0.59）和 FL（0.59）具有最高的 CSNI，SL 的 CSEI 最低（0.34），CSQI 最高（1.89）。CSNI 主要受土壤结构稳定性指数（SSSI）、砂含量、粉粒+粘粒的影响，而 CSEI 受土壤有机质（SOM）、大团聚体和微团聚体的控制。此外，CSQI 受 pH 值、粉粒和粘粒含量以及生物量覆盖（BC）的影响。研究表明，从提高土壤养分和土壤可蚀性的角度来看，SL 被建议作为整个坡度上最佳的植被恢复类型。
