Babur Emre
Faculty of Forestry, Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam University, 46050 Kahramanmaras, Turkey.
Life (Basel). 2024 Sep 9;14(9):1139. doi: 10.3390/life14091139.
The mineralogical composition of the parent material, together with plant species and soil microorganisms, constitutes the foundational components of an ecosystem's energy cycle. Afforestation in arid-semi arid regions plays a crucial role in preventing erosion and enhancing soil quality, offering significant economic and ecological benefits. This study evaluated the effects of afforestation and different parent materials on the physicochemical and microbiological properties of soils, including microbial basal respiration (MR), as well as how these changes in soil properties after 15 years influence plant growth. For this purpose, various soil physicochemical parameters, MR, soil microbial biomass carbon (C), stoichiometry (microbial quotient = C/C = Mic and metabolic quotient = MR/C = CO), and tree growth metrics such as height and diameter were measured. The results indicated that when the physicochemical and microbiological properties of soils from different bedrock types, along with the average values of tree growth parameters, were analyzed, afforestation areas with limestone bedrock performed better than those with andesite bedrock. Notably, sensitive microbial properties, such as C, MR, and Mic, were positively influenced by afforestation. The highest values of C (323 μg C g) and MR (1.3 CO-C g h) were recorded in soils derived from limestone. In contrast, the highest CO was observed in the control plots of soils with andesite parent material (7.14). Considering all the measured soil properties, the samples can be ranked in the following order: limestone sample (LS) > andesite sample (AS) > limestone control (LC) > andesite control (AC). Similarly, considering measured plant growth parameters were ranked as LS > AS. As a result, the higher plant growth capacity and carbon retention of limestone soil indicate that it has high microbial biomass and microbial activity. This study emphasizes the importance of selecting suitable parent material and understanding soil properties to optimize future afforestation efforts on bare lands.
母质的矿物成分，连同植物物种和土壤微生物，构成了生态系统能量循环的基础组成部分。干旱半干旱地区的造林在防止侵蚀和提高土壤质量方面发挥着关键作用，带来显著的经济和生态效益。本研究评估了造林和不同母质对土壤理化和微生物特性的影响，包括微生物基础呼吸（MR），以及15年后土壤性质的这些变化如何影响植物生长。为此，测量了各种土壤理化参数、MR、土壤微生物生物量碳（C）、化学计量学（微生物商 = C/C = Mic和代谢商 = MR/C = CO）以及树木生长指标如高度和直径。结果表明，当分析不同基岩类型土壤的理化和微生物特性以及树木生长参数的平均值时，石灰岩基岩的造林区域表现优于安山岩基岩的区域。值得注意的是，造林对敏感的微生物特性，如C、MR和Mic有积极影响。来自石灰岩的土壤中记录到最高的C值（323μg C g）和MR值（1.3 CO-C g h）。相比之下，安山岩母质土壤的对照地块中观察到最高的CO值（7.14）。考虑所有测量的土壤性质，样品可按以下顺序排列：石灰岩样品（LS）>安山岩样品（AS）>石灰岩对照（LC）>安山岩对照（AC）。同样，考虑测量的植物生长参数排名为LS>AS。因此，石灰岩土壤较高的植物生长能力和碳保留表明其具有高微生物生物量和微生物活性。本研究强调了选择合适母质和了解土壤性质以优化未来裸地造林工作的重要性。
