Lu Qi, Ma Hongbin, Zhou Yao, Liu Jindi, Shen Yan
Key Laboratory for Model Innovation in Forage Production Efficiency, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Ningxia University, Ningxia, China.
Ningxia Grassland and Animal Husbandry Engineering Technology Research Center, Ningxia University, Ningxia, China.
Front Plant Sci. 2023 Jun 13;14:1101295. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1101295. eCollection 2023.
Grassland restoration measures control soil degradation and improve soil quality (SQ) worldwide, but there is little knowledge about the effectiveness of restoration measures affecting SQ in arid areas, and the restoration rate of degraded grasslands to natural restoration grasslands and reseeded grasslands remains unclear. To establish a soil quality index (SQI) to evaluate the effects of different grassland restoration measures on SQ, continuous grazing grassland (CG) (as a reference), grazing exclusion grassland (EX), and reseeding grassland (RS) were selected and sampled in the arid desert steppe. Two soil indicator selection methods were conducted (total data set (TDS) and minimum data set (MDS)), followed by three SQ indices (additive soil quality index (SQI), weighted additive soil quality index (SQI), and Nemoro soil quality index (SQI)). The results indicated that SQ was better assessed using the SQI ( = 0.55) compared to SQI and SQI for indication differences among the treatments due to the larger coefficient of variance. The SQI-MDS value in CG grassland was 46% and 68% lower than that of EX grassland and RS grassland, respectively. Our findings provided evidence that restoration practices of grazing exclusion and reseeding can significantly improve the SQ in the arid desert steppe, and native plant reseeded can accelerate soil quality restoration.
草原恢复措施在全球范围内控制土壤退化并改善土壤质量（SQ），但对于干旱地区影响土壤质量的恢复措施的有效性了解甚少，退化草原恢复为自然恢复草原和重新播种草原的恢复率仍不明确。为了建立土壤质量指数（SQI）以评估不同草原恢复措施对土壤质量的影响，在干旱荒漠草原中选择了连续放牧草地（CG）（作为对照）、禁牧草地（EX）和重新播种草地（RS）并进行采样。采用了两种土壤指标选择方法（全数据集（TDS）和最小数据集（MDS）），随后计算了三种土壤质量指数（累加土壤质量指数（SQI）、加权累加土壤质量指数（SQI）和内梅罗土壤质量指数（SQI））。结果表明，与SQI和SQI相比，使用SQI（=0.55）能更好地评估土壤质量，因为其变异系数更大，可指示各处理间的差异。CG草地的SQI-MDS值分别比EX草地和RS草地低46%和68%。我们的研究结果证明，禁牧和重新播种的恢复措施能够显著改善干旱荒漠草原的土壤质量，并且种植本地植物可以加速土壤质量的恢复。
