Abstract
Soil physic-chemical properties differ at different depths; however, differences in afforestation-induced temporal changes at different soil depths are seldom reported. By examining 19 parameters, the temporal changes and their interactions with soil depth in a large chronosequence dataset (159 plots; 636 profiles; 2544 samples) of larch plantations were checked by multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA). No linear temporal changes were found in 9 parameters (N, K, N:P, available forms of N, P, K and ratios of N: available N, P: available P and K: available K), while marked linear changes were found in the rest 10 parameters. Four of them showed divergent temporal changes between surface and deep soils. At surface soils, changing rates were 262.1 g·kg−1·year−1 for SOM, 438.9 mg·g−1·year−1 for C:P, 5.3 mg·g−1·year−1 for C:K, and −3.23 mg·cm−3·year−1 for bulk density, while contrary tendencies were found in deeper soils. These divergences resulted in much moderated or no changes in the overall 80-cm soil profile. The other six parameters showed significant temporal changes for overall 0–80-cm soil profile (P: −4.10 mg·kg−1·year−1; pH: −0.0061 unit·year−1; C:N: 167.1 mg·g−1·year−1; K:P: 371.5 mg·g−1 year−1; N:K: −0.242 mg·g−1·year−1; EC: 0.169 μS·cm−1·year−1), but without significant differences at different soil depths (P > 0.05). Our findings highlight the importance of deep soils in studying physic-chemical changes of soil properties, and the temporal changes occurred in both surface and deep soils should be fully considered for forest management and soil nutrient balance.
Highlights
Many forests are planted on degraded or abandoned farmlands, for use as agricultural protection forests, aimed at timber production, ecological protection, and degraded land rehabilitation (FAO 2010; Wang et al 2011)
The deep-root features and close-link between soil organic matter (SOM) and nutrient cycles request a full-check on the temporal changes of different soil physic-chemical properties in deep soils, which is crucial for a comprehensive understanding of afforestation-induced soil changes in physical feature, soil fertility, and stoichiometric composition
Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Summary
Many forests are planted on degraded or abandoned farmlands, for use as agricultural protection forests, aimed at timber production, ecological protection, and degraded land rehabilitation (FAO 2010; Wang et al 2011). In addition to the significance of aboveground biomass accumulation, there are increasing concerns regarding soil organic matter (SOM) dynamics and possible nutrient limitation as well as soil degradation in plantation forests. The deep-root features and close-link between SOM and nutrient cycles request a full-check on the temporal changes of different soil physic-chemical properties in deep soils, which is crucial for a comprehensive understanding of afforestation-induced soil changes in physical feature, soil fertility, and stoichiometric composition. Soil degradation including nutrient depletion, soil acidification, and physical compaction may constrain tree growth of larch plantation in a long term (Pan and Wang 1997; Liu et al 1998; Chen and Xiao 2006).
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