scholarly journals Soil Available Phosphorus Loss Caused by Periodical Understory Management Reduce Understory Plant Diversity in a Northern Subtropical Pinus massoniana Plantation Chronosequence

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 231
Author(s):  
Dong Dai ◽  
Ashfaq Ali ◽  
Xin Huang ◽  
Mingjun Teng ◽  
Changguang Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Properties ◽  
Plant Diversity ◽  
Soil Layer ◽  
Pinus Massoniana ◽  
Stand Age ◽  
Available Phosphorus ◽  
Soil Available Phosphorus ◽  
Understory Plants ◽  
Understory Diversity ◽  
Understory Plant

Clearing of understory plants is a common management method in plantation forests, but its long-term impact on soil properties and understory plant diversity is still poorly understood. In order to uncover the potential relationship between understory diversity and soil properties, we categorized understory plants into herbs and shrubs, and took soil depth into consideration. We measured the soil variables and investigated the understory plant diversity in four stand age-classes (9-year-old for young, 18-year-old for intermediate, 28-year-old for near-mature, and 48-year-old for mature) in a Pinus massoniana plantation. We aimed to examine how the diversity of herbs and shrubs changed with stand succession and to determine which of the three soil depths (0–10 cm, 10–20 cm, 20–40 cm) had the strongest explanation for the understory plant diversity. Furthermore, structural equation modeling (SEM) was performed to assess the direct and indirect effect of understory clearing and stand age on understory diversity. We found that understory clearing influenced the trend of diversity of herbs and shrubs with stand age, and understory diversity showed a strong correlation with soil physical properties in all three soil layers. The soil properties in the 10–20 cm soil layer related with the diversity of herbs and shrubs most, while the 20–40 cm soil layer properties related with them the least. Understory clearing reduced soil available phosphorus (AP). Understory clearing and stand age were found to benefit understory plant diversity directly and decreased the understory diversity indirectly via AP. Consequently, to improve our understanding of the impact of understory clearing and stand age on biodiversity, we should take into account its direct and indirect effects.

scholarly journals Soil Nutrients Effects on the Performance of Durum Wheat Inoculated with Entomopathogenic Fungi

Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 589
Author(s):  
Adrián González-Guzmán ◽  
Daniel Sacristán ◽  
Antonio Rafael Sánchez-Rodríguez ◽  
Vidal Barrón ◽  
José Torrent ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Grain Yield ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Entomopathogenic Fungi ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Agricultural Soils ◽  
Nutrient Concentrations ◽  
Available Phosphorus ◽  
Soil Available Phosphorus ◽  
Mutualistic Relationship ◽  
Fungal Inoculation

Entomopathogenic fungi (EFs) are widely used as biological control agents. However, some strains of Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium brunneum can also promote plant growth and increase nutrient uptake. We examined the effects of soil properties on the performance of Triticum durum inoculated by seed dressing with these EFs and grown on 12 agricultural soils. The plants were supplied with all nutrients except P and Zn (essential for yield and the grain quality of wheat). Fungal inoculation increased the grain yield and harvest index significantly with B. bassiana (17% and 14%, respectively) but not with M. brunneum (6% and 6%, respectively). The increase in grain yield was positively and moderately correlated with the soil available phosphorus (POlsen) in plants inoculated with B. bassiana and with the soil content in poorly crystalline Fe oxides with M. brunneum. In addition, the increase in aerial dry matter resulting from inoculation with B. bassiana was negatively correlated with soil available Zn. Furthermore, the observed increase in grain yields due to fungal inoculation resulted in P and Zn grain dilution (grain nutrient concentrations decrease). Inoculation with B. bassiana increased grain Zn uptake and the proportion of Zn in grain relative to that in aerial dry matter. Success in the mutualistic relationship between EF and wheat plants depends on the fungal strain and soil properties.

scholarly journals Early effects of crop tree management on undergrowth plant diversity and soil physicochemical properties in a Pinus massoniana plantation

PeerJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. e11852
Author(s):  
Qian Lyu ◽  
Yi Shen ◽  
Xianwei Li ◽  
Gang Chen ◽  
Dehui Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physicochemical Properties ◽  
Plant Diversity ◽  
Dominant Species ◽  
Pinus Massoniana ◽  
Available Phosphorus ◽  
Soil Physicochemical Properties ◽  
Herb Layer ◽  
Tree Management ◽  
Initial Stage ◽  
Richness Index

Background Soil and understory vegetation are vital components of forest ecosystems. Identifying the interaction of plantation management to vegetation and soil is crucial for developing sustainable plantation ecosystem management strategies. As one of the main measures of close-to-nature management of forest plantation, few studies have paid attention to the effect of crop tree management on the soil properties and understory vegetation. Methods A 36-year-old Pinus massoniana plantation in Huaying city, Sichuan Province was taken as the research object to analyse the changes in undergrowth plant diversity and soil physicochemical properties under three different crop tree densities (100, 150, and 200 N/ha). Results Our results showed that the contents of available phosphorus, organic matter and hydrolysable nitrogen in the topsoil increased significantly after crop tree management, while content of available potassium decreased. The composition of shrub and herb layer was richer, and the dominant species were obviously replaced after crop tree management. The Shannon–Wiener index and Richness index of shrub layer, and the diversity of herb layer increased significantly after crop tree management. Herb layer diversity indexes and Richness index of shrub layer were closely related to soil organic matter, available phosphorus, hydrolysable nitrogen, available potassium, soil moisture and bulk density. As the main limiting factors for plant growth, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium were closely related to plant diversity and to the distribution of the dominant species. At the initial stage of crop tree management, each treatment significantly improved the soil physicochemical properties and plant diversity of Pinus massoniana plantation, and the comprehensive evaluation was 200 N/ha >100 N/ha >150 N/ha >CK. Compared with other treatments, 200 N/ha had the best effect on improving the undergrowth environment of the Pinus massoniana plantation in the initial stage of crop tree management.

Effects of afforestation with Eucalyptus grandis on soil physicochemical and microbiological properties

Soil Research ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danju Zhang ◽  
Jian Zhang ◽  
Wanqin Yang ◽  
Fuzhong Wu
Keyword(s):  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Soil Layer ◽  
Western China ◽  
Stand Age ◽  
Arable Soils ◽  
Total N ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Microbiological Properties

It is generally believed that plantations of Eucalyptus bring about a decrease in soil fertility. Soil physicochemical and microbiological properties were measured across a range of E. grandis plantation ages (1–10 years) in south-western China to determine whether and how eucalypt afforestation of agricultural land affected the soil fertility. The results indicate that afforestation with E. grandis caused changes in soil properties with soil depth, and the changes were dependent on the stand age. Soil bulk density decreased significantly, but water-holding capacity increased significantly with time. Soil organic matter content, C : N ratio, and soil microbial biomass C and N concentrations showed an initial phase of decline and then increased significantly over time in the upper soil layers of E. grandis plantations aged from 1 to 4 or 5 years. Soil pH in E. grandis plantations did not change significantly with stand age or soil layer. Cation exchange capacity in the upper soil layer of E. grandis plantations increased significantly over time. Total exchangeable bases and base saturation in the soil decreased significantly with depth and with increasing plantation age. Furthermore, E. grandis afforestation of arable soils had no significant effects on total N, total P, and available P contents. The requirements of the trees, understory microenvironmental conditions, and allelopathic effects might play important roles in the dynamic changes of soil physicochemical and microbiological properties. The results demonstrate the progressive development of processes that lead to the restoration of soil fertility following E. grandis afforestation of arable soils. However, most of the properties measured for the afforested soils resembled the properties of arable soils and did not resemble those of the soil of control forests. Thus, reversion of soil properties in the study plantations is likely to require a considerable period of time. Long-term research is needed to understand changes in the soil properties resulting from afforestation with Eucalyptus and to predict future trends.

scholarly journals Combining Mineral Amendments Improves Wheat Yield and Soil Properties in a Coastal Saline Area

Agronomy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jishi Zhang ◽  
Xilong Jiang ◽  
Qi Miao ◽  
Botao Yu ◽  
Liming Xu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Properties ◽  
Rock Phosphate ◽  
Yellow River ◽  
Soil Depth ◽  
Wheat Yield ◽  
Yellow River Delta ◽  
Available Phosphorus ◽  
Dry Matter Accumulation ◽  
Soil Available Phosphorus ◽  
Saline Area

Certain minerals possess structures that convey properties which improve soil quality; however, their application in coastal saline areas has been poorly studied. In this study, we explored the effects of combining mineral amendments on the improvement of wheat yield and soil properties in a two-year field experiment in mildly saline coastal soil areas of the Yellow River Delta, China. Five mineral materials were combined into the following four treatments: zeolite + rock phosphate (ZP), zeolite + silica calcium soil conditioner (ZC), vermiculite + rock phosphate (VP), and vermiculite + medical stone (VS). For all treatments, combined mineral amendments increased wheat yield compared to the control, with similar increases in yield following treatment with VP (45.7%), ZP (43.5%), and ZC (43.6%), and a significantly smaller increase following VS treatment (26.3%). These increases in grain yield were attributed to larger dry matter accumulation and higher grain numbers per ha. Compared to the control, ZP and ZC application substantially reduced soluble magnesium (Mg) and sodium (Na) contents, electrical conductivity (EC), and sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), and increased soil organic carbon (SOC) at a soil depth of 0–20 cm. VP application increased soil available phosphorus (P) by 34.7% and soluble potassium (K) by 69.3% at a soil depth of 0–20 cm. VS application slightly increased the SOC, total nitrogen (N), available P, and soluble K compared to the control. Overall, these results indicate that combining mineral amendments significantly increases wheat yield and improves soil properties in a saline area. Thus, we recommend the use of mineral amendments in saline coastal areas.

Effects of stand density on understory plant diversity and biomass in a Pinus massoniana plantation in Wenfeng Mountain, Xinjin County

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (15) ◽  
Author(s):  
张柳桦 ZHANG Liuhua ◽  
齐锦秋 QI Jinqiu ◽  
李婷婷 LI Tingting ◽  
鱼舜尧 YU Shunyao ◽  
张潇月 ZHANG Xiaoyue ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Diversity ◽  
Stand Density ◽  
Pinus Massoniana ◽  
Understory Plant

Plant diversity and seasonal dynamics in forest gaps of varying sizes in Pinus massoniana plantations

2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 477-490 ◽  
Author(s):  
CUI Ning-Jie ◽  
◽  
ZHANG Dan-Ju ◽  
LIU Yang ◽  
ZHANG Jian ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Diversity ◽  
Seasonal Dynamics ◽  
Pinus Massoniana ◽  
Forest Gaps

scholarly journals A multifaceted approach for beech forest conservation: Environmental drivers of understory plant diversity

Flora ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 256 ◽  
pp. 85-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gianluigi Ottaviani ◽  
Lars Götzenberger ◽  
Giovanni Bacaro ◽  
Alessandro Chiarucci ◽  
Francesco de Bello ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Diversity ◽  
Forest Conservation ◽  
Beech Forest ◽  
Environmental Drivers ◽  
Multifaceted Approach ◽  
Understory Plant

Corrigendum to: Conservation agriculture effects on soil properties and crop productivity in a semiarid region of India

Soil Research ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 200 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Somasundaram ◽  
M. Salikram ◽  
N. K. Sinha ◽  
M. Mohanty ◽  
R. S. Chaudhary ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Properties ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Soil Layer ◽  
Conservation Agriculture ◽  
Semiarid Region ◽  
Reduced Tillage ◽  
Organic C ◽  
Residue Retention

Conservation agriculture (CA) including reduced or no-tillage and crop residue retention, is known to be a self–sustainable system as well as an alternative to residue burning. The present study evaluated the effect of reduced tillage coupled with residue retention under different cropping systems on soil properties and crop yields in a Vertisol of a semiarid region of central India. Two tillage systems – conventional tillage (CT) with residue removed, and reduced tillage (RT) with residue retained – and six major cropping systems of this region were examined after 3 years of experimentation. Results demonstrated that soil moisture content, mean weight diameter, percent water stable aggregates (>0.25mm) for the 0–15cm soil layer were significantly (Pmoderately labile>less labile. At the 0–15cm depth, the contributions of moderately labile, less labile and non-labile C fractions to total organic C were 39.3%, 10.3% and 50.4% respectively in RT and corresponding values for CT were 38.9%, 11.7% and 49.4%. Significant differences in different C fractions were observed between RT and CT. Soil microbial biomass C concentration was significantly higher in RT than CT at 0–15cm depth. The maize–chickpea cropping system had significantly (P–1 followed by soybean+pigeon pea (2:1) intercropping (3.50 t ha–1) and soybean–wheat cropping systems (2.97 t ha–1). Thus, CA practices could be sustainable management practices for improving soil health and crop yields of rainfed Vertisols in these semiarid regions.

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