Subtropical Karst Region Research Articles

Dynamics of soil gross nitrogen transformations during post-agricultural succession in a subtropical karst region

Gross nitrogen (N) transformations are crucial in determining soil N status, but how gross N transformations change during post-agricultural succession remains poorly understood. Here, gross N transformations were measured using a 15N isotope dilution technique in a subtropical karst region, southwest China. A stratified random sampling scheme was adopted and the succession sequence included grassland (~4 years), shrubland (~15 years) and secondary forest (~30 years) with cropland as reference. The soil was leptosols (limestone soil). Soil total N concentrations were significantly (P < 0.05 hereafter) elevated in the shrubland and forest relative to the cropland and grassland. No clear pattern was found for NH4+ concentration, but NO3− concentration increased from the grassland to the forest. The gross rates of N mineralization and nitrification (GN) were significantly lower in the grassland than in the cropland, but increased significantly during post-agricultural succession. There were no clear patterns for the rates of dissimilatory NO3− reduction to NH4+ and gross NO3− immobilization. Gross NH4+ immobilization (GAI) in the forest was lowest but there was no significant difference among the cropland, grassland and shrubland. Gross N mineralization rate correlated significantly with protease activity, implying that the depolymerization of N-containing polymers was likely the rate-limiting step of gross N mineralization. Net nitrate production rate and GN:GAI ratio increased significantly from the grassland to the forest, supporting that soil N cycling likely became more open during post-agricultural succession in the karst region of southwest China.

Soil carbon and nitrogen accumulation following agricultural abandonment in a subtropical karst region

Vegetation restoration following agricultural abandonment is an effective method for soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration. However, SOC dynamics during post-agriculture succession in different soil layers, and its regulation by soil nitrogen (N), are not well understood. We investigated SOC and soil N dynamics during post-agriculture succession at soil depths of 0–10, 10–20, 20–30, and 30–50 cm in a subtropical karst area in southwest China. The succession sequence included grassland (∼9 years), shrubland (∼25 years), secondary forest (∼52 years), and primary forest, with cropland as a reference. In the 0–50 cm soil profile, the SOC and soil N stocks will recover to the primary forest level in ∼74 years at a rate of 112.35 g C m−2 yr−1 and in ∼100 years at a rate of 12.07 g N m−2 yr−1, respectively. The accumulation rate of SOC and soil N was higher in the topsoil (0–20 cm) than in the subsoil (20–50 cm). The estimated time for SOC stock to recover to the primary forest level in topsoil and subsoil was similar (72 and 76 years, respectively), whereas that for soil N stock require more time in topsoil than in subsoil (106 and 89 years, respectively). The higher rate of relative N stock change than that of SOC suggests that progressive N limitation does not occur in the long term following agricultural abandonment. Our results highlight the importance of soil depth and soil N in determining SOC change for secondary succession. Furthermore, the results suggest that, compared to that of previous studies, which considered only surface soil in the karst regions of southwest China, the recovery period of C and N in soil profile may be longer than that assumed previously.

Soil gross nitrogen transformations in responses to land use conversion in a subtropical karst region

Gross nitrogen (N) transformations can provide important information for assessing indigenous soil N supply capacity and soil nitrate leaching potential. The current study aimed to assess the variation of gross N transformations in response to conversion of maize-soybean fields to sugarcane, mulberry, and forage grass fields in a subtropical karst region of southwest China. Mature forests were included for comparison. Gross rates of N mineralization (GNM) were highest in the forests, intermediate in the maize-soybean and forage grass fields, and lowest in the sugarcane and mulberry fields, suggesting capacity of indigenous soil N supply derived from organic N mineralization was lowered after conversion to sugarcane and mulberry fields. The relative high indigenous soil N supply capacity in the maize-soybean fields was obtained at the cost of soil organic N depletion. Gross nitrification (GN) rates were highest in the forests, intermediate in the forage grass fields and lowest in the other three agricultural land use types. The nitrate retention capacity (24.1 ± 2.0% on average) was similar among the five land use types, implying that nitrate leaching potential was not changed after land use conversion. Microbial biomass N exerted significant direct effects on the rates of N mineralization, nitrification, ammonium immobilization and nitrate immobilization. Soil organic carbon, total N and exchangeable magnesium had significant indirect effects on these N transformation rates. Our findings suggest that forage grass cultivation instead of other agricultural land uses should be recommended from the perspective of increasing indigenous soil N supply while not depleting soil organic N pool.

Nitrous oxide emissions from different land use patterns in a typical karst region, Southwest China

Fluxes of nitrous oxide (N2O) from different land use patterns (matured forest, secondary forest, grassland and cropland) in a subtropical karst region of Guizhou Province, Southwest China, were measured for one year with a closed static chamber technique and by gas chromatography. The results showed that soil under different land uses was a source of atmospheric N2O. The cropland was a source with relatively high N2O as compared to forest and grassland, but no significant differences were observed. N2O emissions from soils varied with land use change and fertilizer application. There were two peaks of N2O flux occurred following the combination of two obvious precipitation and fertilizer events in the cultivated land. Converting from the matured forest to secondary forest tended to increase annual emissions of N2O (from 1.40 to 1.65 kg N ha−1 a−1), while changing land use from secondary forest to scattered grassland tended to decrease annual emissions of N2O slightly (from 1.65 to 1.45 kg N ha−1 a−1). Our range of cumulative annual N2O emission across different land uses (1.40–1.91 kg N ha−1 a−1) in a karst region is in general agreement with previously published data in a non-karst region. However, in the maize field, N2O emission factor (EF) was 0.34% for fertilizer application, which is about 71.2% lower than the IPCC default value. It is suggested that current IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) EF methodology could overestimate N2O emission from the karstic cropland. Anyway, the N2O emission from cropland in the karst region would contribute significantly to the global N2O budget, so reducing fertilization frequency during the crop growing season could lead to a decrease in N2O emission in the whole year.

Interactions of vegetation succession, soil bio-chemical properties and microbial communities in a Karst ecosystem

Interactions among vegetation, soil physical and chemical conditions, and soil microbial communities determine the functions, resilience and stability of ecosystems. However, these interactions are largely unclear in the fragile Karst ecosystems. This study therefore investigated the bulk soils from five vegetation stages representing the dominant vegetation succession of subtropical Karst ecosystems. The results of this study indicated that, along the vegetation succession steps from arable farming, tussock, shrub, to secondary and primary forest, the contents of organic carbon (OC) and total nitrogen (TN), cation exchange capacity (CEC), water stability index (WSI), the amounts of microbial biomass carbon (Cmb) and biomass nitrogen (Nmb), Nmb:TN ratio, and Shannon indexes of fungal phylogenetic diversity (H′pf) and bacterial phylogenetic and catabolic diversities (referred as H′pb and H′cb, respectively) increased significantly (p < 0.05), whilst soil bulk density (BD) and metabolic quotient (qCO2) decreased (p < 0.05). Soil microbial properties (Cmb, Nmb, qCO2, H′pb, H′pf and H′cb) were correlated (p < 0.05) with the contents of soil OC, TN, CEC and BD. There were also correlations (p < 0.05) between the OC and the TN, CEC and BD of soils, and between the H′cb and the qCO2 of soil microbial communities. In conclusion, the accumulation of OC with vegetation succession drives improvements of soil physico-chemical properties, and the phylogenetic diversities as indicated by their partial 16S/18S rRNA genes and catabolic capability as indicated by utilization patterns of different carbon sources of microbial communities, which in turn may accelerate the restoration of the degraded ecosystems in the subtropical Karst region.

Spatial Variability of Surface Soil Moisture in a Depression Area of Karst Region

AbstractAn understanding of soil moisture variability is necessary to characterize the linkages between a region's hydrology, ecology, and physiography. In subtropical karst region, the spatial variability of surface soil moisture is still unclear for the rocky ecological environment and intensive land uses. The purpose of this study was to characterize the variation and patterns of soil moisture content at depth of 0–16 cm and to investigate their influencing factors in a karst depression area of southwest China. Soil moisture content was measured at 20 m intervals by intensive sampling on March 11 (dry season) and August 30 (rainy season) in 2005, respectively. Surface soil moisture presented a moderate variability in the depression area at the sampling times. The variability was relatively higher in dry season with lower mean soil moisture, but lower in rainy season with higher mean soil moisture after heavy rain event. Similar results were also obtained from the mosaic patterns of soil moisture generated by ordinary Kriging interpolation with low standard deviations. This suggested that more soil samples might be required and the sampling interval should be shortened in dry season compared with rainy season. The dominant influencing factors on the variability of surface soil moisture were rainfall and land use types. However, altitude, bare‐rock ratio, and soil organic carbon were also important factors, and exerted jointly to control and redistribute the surface soil moisture either in dry or rainy season in the depression area. Such information provided some insights for the study on eco‐hydrological processes of vegetation restoration in the karst degraded ecosystem of southwest China.