Soil Acidification in Phyllostachys praecox f. preveynalis Cultivation with Intensive Management

Abstract

Phyllostachys praecox f. preveynalis (Lei bamboo) cultivation with intensive management has high economic profits. However, soil acidification is a severe problem with bamboo plantations that may influence its sustainability in practice. In this study, soils of two sites with different bamboo cultivation times were collected from Lin-an City of Zhejiang Province, China, to understand bamboo soil acidification through analysis of various soil acidification indicators. Results showed that soil nutrients accumulated significantly within the bamboo plantation, but soil pH dropped dramatically. Soil exchangeable acid increased with increasing bamboo planting times, so did the ratio of exchangeable aluminum (Al) to total soil Al. However, the exchangeable base cation [potassium (K) + sodium (Na) + calcium (Ca) + magnesium (Mg)] content and its saturation decreased greatly. With a simple simulation of first-order decay equation, soil acidification rates differed from soil sites but the final pH was similar, which suggested that intensive management exerted an important effect on soil properties.