『Abstract
One of the most fragile areas in the China Loess Plateau, is
the transitional belt that is subjected to wind and water erosion.
The transitional belt accounts for about 30% of the Loess Plateau
area. To reduce soil degradation in the Loess Plateau, the Chinese
government initiated a state-funded vegetation restoration project
in 1999. The effectiveness of this project on transitional belt
soils is unknown. The objective of this study is to determine
the effects of four dominant vegetation types on soil organic
carbon (SOC) and nitrogen (N) in a selected catchment within the
transitional belt. Korshinsk Peashrub (KOP), purple alfalfa (ALF),
and natural fallow (NAF) were selected as vegetation restoration
types because they have been used widely to remedy soil degradation.
The fourth vegetation type selected was millet (MIL) because it
has been an important crop in the region. In 2004, four 61×5 m
plots were established on 12゜ slope land. The plots were parallel
and separated by 80 cm. Based upon soil samples collected in august
of 2007, there were large variations in the distributions and
stocks of SOC and N across the four vegetation types. Compared
with MIL, KOP significantly increased the concentration and stock
of SOC and total nitrogen (TN) in 0-100 cm soil profiles, while
ALF and NAF were not significantly different. The distributions
of SOC and TN concentrations and stocks of KOP, ALF and NAF were
relatively uniform along a hillslope, while there was an increasing
trend along the hillslope in MIL. This result suggests that ALF
and NAF would be beneficial in SOC and TN sequestration over a
long-term because of their ability to reduce the loss of SOC and
TN by soil erosion. We also found that both vegetation types and
hillslope position had no significant effects on C:N ratio. Our
study demonstrated that improvements of SOC and TN stocks in the
transitional belt could be made through well managed vegetation
restoration measures.
Keywords: Soil organic carbon; Total nitrogen; Vegetation type;
Northern Loess Plateau』
1. Introduction
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Study site
2.2. Experimental design
2.3. Soil sampling and laboratory analyses
2.4. Data analysis
3. Results
3.1. SOC concentration
3.2. TN
3.3. Soil carbon/nitrogen (C:N) ratios
3.4. SOC and TN stocks
3.5. Aboveground biomass, plant N concentration and aboveground
N pool
4. Discussion
4.1. Effects of vegetation types on SOC
4.2. Effects of vegetation types on TN
4.3. Effects of vegetation types on C:N ratios
5. Conclusions
Acknowledgements
References