Advanced Search
Soil Characteristics of Different Microhabitats of Chinese Prickly Ash in Karst Mountain Areas of Guizhou Province
  
View Full Text  View/Add Comment  Download reader
KeyWord:Karst microhabitat; Chinese prickly ash; soil organic carbon; substrate-induced respiration
Author NameAffiliation
LIAO Hong-kai Guizhou Key Laboratory of Mountain Environment, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001, China 
LI Juan Guizhou Key Laboratory of Mountain Environment, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001, China
Department of Geography and Environment Science, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001, China 
LONG Jian Guizhou Key Laboratory of Mountain Environment, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001, China 
ZHANG Wen-juan Guizhou Key Laboratory of Mountain Environment, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001, China
Department of Geography and Environment Science, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001, China 
LIU Ling-fei Guizhou Key Laboratory of Mountain Environment, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001, China 
Hits: 1918
Download times: 2224
Abstract:
      The Chinese prickly ash is an economically important plant for water and soil conservation. An investigation was carried out into soil characteristics of different microhabitats of the Chinese prickly ash in the typical Karst region, southwest Guizhou Province. Compared with the normal soils in the region, soil organic carbon(SOC), labile organic carbon(LOC), total nitrogen(TN), alkaline hydrolysis nitrogen(AN), and substrate-induced respiration(SIR) were all significantly higher in the stone gully and stone pit shaped microhabitats, whereas lower in stone crevice, stone cavern, and stone groove ones. The proportion of LOC to total SOC ranged from 12.61% to 15.73%, with the highest in stone groove, followed by stone gully, and lowest in normal soil. Large aggregates were dominant, while<0.25 mm aggregates was less than 5%. Path analyses showed SOC content was the most important factor affecting SIR, followed by LOC, with path coefficients of 1.530 and 0.869 for SOC and LOC, respectively. The microhabitats in Chinese prickly ash could be divided into three types, i.e. gully-pit type, normal soil, and groove-crevice. The contents of SOC, SIR, TN, AN, and LOC in soils of gully-pit shaped microhabitats significantly increased by 73.38%, 110.26%, 37.01%, 44.44%, and 59.73%, respectively, compared with those of the groove-crevice shaped ones. These results suggest that constructing gully-pit shaped microhabitats via engineering means, would be a good approach to ecological restoration and agricultural sustainability in Karst region.