College of Geographical Science, Inner Mongolia Normal University, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China.
Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Land Use and Renovation Engineering Technology Research Center, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China.
PLoS One. 2023 Aug 21;18(8):e0290301. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0290301. eCollection 2023.
As a natural ecological fragile region, the vast desert steppe in the Inner Mongolia has a developed animal husbandry, and thus posed great impacts on soil quality. In order to accurately evaluate the current situation of soil quality in the desert steppe, it is therefore imperative to adopt a suitable method to effectively assess the soil quality in the region. In this study, the minimum data set (MDS) was established with the help of principal component analysis, Norm value calculation, and correlation analysis, and four indicators, including organic matter, sand grains, soil erosion degree, and pH, were established to evaluate the soil quality of the desert steppe in the Siziwang Banner, a county in the Inner Mongolia. The results from the minimum data set (MDS) method were validated based on the total data set (TDS) method, and the validation indicated that the MDS method can be representative of the soil quality of the study area. The results indicated: 1) the soil quality index (SQI) of 0-30 cm in more than 90% of the study area falls in the range of 0.4 and 0.6 (medium level), while the better level (SQI ≥0.6) only accounted less than 10% of the study area; 2) For the MDS indexes, soil organic matter content at all depths decreased in the southern mountains, central hills, and northern plateau, which is consistent with the changing trends of SQI; 3) The sand grain was the dominant particle in the study region, which was in accordance with the intense wind erosion; 4) The negative correlation was found between the soil pH value and SQI (the high value in pH corresponded to the low value in SQI), which reflected that soil pH has a more stressful effect on the local vegetation. Overall, the MDS indexes in this study can objectively and practically reflect the soil quality in the study area, which can provide a cost effective method for SQI assessment in the desert steppe, which is important for the further grassland ecological construction and grassland management to improve the soil quality in the desert steppes.
作为一个自然生态脆弱区，内蒙古广袤的荒漠草原拥有发达的畜牧业，因此对土壤质量造成了巨大影响。为了准确评估荒漠草原的土壤质量现状，因此迫切需要采用合适的方法来有效评估该地区的土壤质量。在本研究中，借助主成分分析、范数计算和相关分析建立了最小数据集（MDS），并建立了有机质、沙粒、土壤侵蚀程度和 pH 四个指标来评价内蒙古四子王旗荒漠草原的土壤质量。基于总数据集（TDS）方法对最小数据集（MDS）方法的结果进行了验证，验证结果表明，MDS 方法能够代表研究区的土壤质量。结果表明：1）研究区 0-30cm 土壤质量指数（SQI）超过 90%的区域处于 0.4-0.6（中等水平）范围内，而较好水平（SQI≥0.6）的区域不到研究区的 10%；2）MDS 指标中，各土层土壤有机质含量在南部山区、中部丘陵和北部高原均呈下降趋势，与 SQI 的变化趋势一致；3）研究区以沙粒为主，与强烈的风蚀相一致；4）土壤 pH 值与 SQI 呈负相关（pH 值高对应 SQI 值低），反映了土壤 pH 值对当地植被具有更大的胁迫作用。总体而言，本研究中的 MDS 指标能够客观、实际地反映研究区的土壤质量，为荒漠草原 SQI 评估提供了一种经济有效的方法，对进一步的草原生态建设和草原管理，提高荒漠草原的土壤质量具有重要意义。
