Abstract
Reclamation of abandoned farmland is crucial to a sustainable agriculture in arid regions. This study aims to evaluate the impact of different reclamation treatments on abandoned salinized farmland. We investigated four artificial reclamation treatments, continuous cotton (CC), continuous alfalfa (CA), tree-wheat intercropping (TW) and trees (TS), which were conducted in 2011–2012 in the Manasi River Basin of Xinjiang Province, China. Soil nutrient, microorganism and enzyme activity were examined in comparison with natural succession (CK) in an integrated analysis on soil fertility improvement and soil salinization control with these reclamations. Results indicate that the four artificial reclamation treatments are more effective approaches than natural restoration to reclaim abandoned farmland. TW and CA significantly increased soil nutrient content compared to CK. CC reduced soil salinity to the lowest level among all treatments. TW significantly enhanced soil enzyme activity. All four artificial reclamations increased soil microbial populations and soil microbial biomass carbon. TW and CA had the greatest overall optimal effects among the four treatments in terms of the ecological outcomes. If both economic benefits and ecological effects are considered, TW would be the best reclamation mode. The findings from this study will assist in selecting a feasible method for reclamation of abandoned farmland for sustainable agriculture in arid regions.
Highlights
Abandoned farmland is widespread over the world [1,2,3], in particular in arid and semi-arid regions
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The findings of this study have demonstrated the considered, TW was the best means for reclamation
Summary
Abandoned farmland is widespread over the world [1,2,3], in particular in arid and semi-arid regions. Primary causes of abandoned farmland in arid and semi-arid zones are soil fertility decline and soil secondary salinization. Artificial reclamation, which involves efficient irrigation and fertilization, is more effective than natural recovery of an abandoned farmland. The effect of soil fertility improvement and soil salinization control using different artificial measures is significantly different [8,9,10]. Different artificial vegetation recovery treatments will have a varied effect on the improvement of soil properties, such as soil nutrient, microbial biomass and enzyme activity [11,12]. The study to assess different artificial reclamation treatments in a region will help with the selection of a proper reclamation mode for abandoned farmland
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