Effects of Slope Aspect on Soil Chemical and Microbial Properties during Natural Recovery on Abandoned Cropland in the Loess Plateau, China

Abandoning cropland to enable recovery of the natural vegetation has been implemented during the past decade to restore the soil quality in the Loess Plateau, China. However, natural succession on cropland in the different slope aspect is different. The present study aimed at investigating the change in soil chemical and microbial properties abandoned farmland across time, and also to compare the difference of soil chemical and microbial properties in north slope and south slope on the Loess Plateau. The results showed that the slope aspect greatly affected the soil chemical and microbial properties after the cropland was abandoned, this could be attributed to the different precipitation and temperature in the two slopes. Compared with the north slope in which the organic C, total N and available N increased with the increase of abandonment years, that of south slope fluctuated significantly. Microbial biomass C and microbial biomass N in both slopes did not differ significantly in the first 10 years abandoned cropland, then decreased drastically in 15-year sites and thereafter tended to increase. Basal respiration in both slope fluctuated greatly in the sites with different abandonment years. Enzymes activities differed significantly in two slopes.

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Influence of slope aspect on the microbial properties of rhizospheric and non-rhizospheric soil on the Loess Plateau, China

10.5194/se-2017-137 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Ze Min Ai ◽

Jiao Yang Zhang ◽

Hong Fei Liu ◽

Sha Xue ◽

Guo Bin Liu

Keyword(s):

Loess Plateau ◽

Microbial Biomass Carbon ◽

Phospholipid Fatty Acid ◽

Slope Aspect ◽

Research Station ◽

Rhizospheric Soil ◽

The Loess Plateau ◽

The South ◽

Microbial Properties ◽

The North

Abstract. Slope aspect is an important topographic factor, but its effect on the microbial properties of grassland rhizospheric soil (RS) and non-rhizospheric soil (NRS) remain unclear. A field experiment was conducted at the Ansai Research Station on the Loess Plateau in China to test the influence of slope aspects (south-facing, north-facing, and northeast-facing slopes, all with Artemisia sacrorum as the dominant species) on RS and NRS microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) contents, and the rhizospheric effect (RE) of various microbial indices. MBC content differed significantly among the slope aspects in RS but not in NRS, and RE for MBC content in the south-facing slope was larger than that in the north-facing slope. RS total, bacterial, and gram-positive bacterial PLFA contents in the south-facing slope were significantly lower than those in the north- and northeast-facing slopes, and RS gram-negative bacterial (G-) and actinomycete PLFA contents in the south-facing slope were significantly lower than those in the north-facing slope. Differently, NRS total, bacterial, and G- PLFA contents in the north-facing slope were significantly higher than those in the south- and northeast-facing slopes, and NRS fungal and actinomycete PLFA contents in the north- and south-facing slopes were significantly higher than those in the northeast-facing slope. RE for all PLFA contents except fungal in the northeast-facing slope were higher than those in the south-facing slope. Slope aspect significantly but differentially affected the microbial properties in RS and NRS, and the variable influence was due an evident RE for most microbial properties.

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referee comments to: "Influence of slope aspect on the microbial properties of rhizospheric and non-rhizospheric soil on the Loess Plateau, China"

10.5194/se-2017-137-rc2 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Anonymous

Keyword(s):

Loess Plateau ◽

Slope Aspect ◽

Rhizospheric Soil ◽

The Loess Plateau ◽

Microbial Properties

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Influence of slope aspect on the microbial properties of rhizospheric and non-rhizospheric soils on the Loess Plateau, China

Solid Earth ◽

10.5194/se-9-1157-2018 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 9 (5) ◽

pp. 1157-1168 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Ze Min Ai ◽

Jiao Yang Zhang ◽

Hong Fei Liu ◽

Sha Xue ◽

Guo Bin Liu

Keyword(s):

Loess Plateau ◽

Phospholipid Fatty Acid ◽

Slope Aspect ◽

Research Station ◽

Rhizospheric Soil ◽

The Loess Plateau ◽

The South ◽

Microbial Properties ◽

The North ◽

Microbial Indices

Abstract. Slope aspect is an important topographic factor in the micro-ecosystem environment, but its effect on the microbial properties of grassland rhizospheric soil (RS) and non-rhizospheric soil (NRS) remain unclear. A field experiment was conducted at the Ansai Research Station on the Loess Plateau in China to test the influence of slope aspects (south-facing, north-facing, and northwest-facing slopes, all with Artemisia sacrorum as the dominant species) on RS and NRS microbial biomass carbon (MBC) contents, phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) contents, and the rhizospheric effect (RE) of various microbial indices. Soil samples were collected from the three slope aspects, including rhizospheric and non-rhizospheric region, and analyzed to determine the various related microbial indices. The results showed that MBC content differed significantly among the slope aspects in RS but not in NRS, and the RE for MBC content in the south-facing slope was larger than that in the north-facing slope. RS total, bacterial, and Gram-positive bacterial PLFA contents in the south-facing slope were significantly lower than those in the north- and northwest-facing slopes, and RS Gram-negative bacterial (G−) and actinomycete PLFA contents in the south-facing slope were significantly lower than those in the north-facing slope. In contrast, NRS total, bacterial, and G− PLFA contents in the north-facing slope were significantly higher than those in the south- and northwest-facing slopes, and NRS fungal and actinomycete PLFA contents in the north- and south-facing slopes were significantly higher than those in the northwest-facing slope. RE for all PLFA contents except fungal in the northwest-facing slope were higher than those in the south-facing slope. Slope aspect significantly but differentially affected the microbial properties in RS and NRS, and the variable influence was due to an evident RE for most microbial properties.

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Conventional tillage increases soil microbial biomass and activity in the Loess Plateau, China

Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica Section B - Soil & Plant Science ◽

10.1080/09064710.2013.807356 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 63 (6) ◽

pp. 489-496

Author(s):

Ding Guo ◽

Xudong Li ◽

Xiaodong Li ◽

Jing Wang ◽

Hua Fu

Keyword(s):

Microbial Biomass ◽

Loess Plateau ◽

Soil Microbial Biomass ◽

Conventional Tillage ◽

The Loess Plateau ◽

Soil Microbial

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Effects of rhizosphere interactions of grass interspecies on the soil microbial properties during the natural succession in the Loess Plateau

European Journal of Soil Biology ◽

10.1016/j.ejsobi.2018.01.006 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 85 ◽

pp. 79-88 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Chao Zhang ◽

Guobin Liu ◽

Sha Xue ◽

Guoliang Wang ◽

Jie Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Loess Plateau ◽

The Loess Plateau ◽

Natural Succession ◽

Microbial Properties ◽

Soil Microbial ◽

Rhizosphere Interactions ◽

Soil Microbial Properties

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The restoration age of Robinia pseudoacacia plantation impacts soil microbial biomass and microbial community structure in the Loess Plateau

CATENA ◽

10.1016/j.catena.2018.02.001 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 165 ◽

pp. 192-200 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Dong Liu ◽

Yimei Huang ◽

Hanyin Sun ◽

Shaoshan An

Keyword(s):

Community Structure ◽

Microbial Community ◽

Microbial Biomass ◽

Loess Plateau ◽

Microbial Community Structure ◽

Soil Microbial Biomass ◽

Robinia Pseudoacacia ◽

The Loess Plateau ◽

Soil Microbial ◽

Restoration Age

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Fire Alters Soil Properties and Vegetation in a Coniferous–Broadleaf Mixed Forest in Central China

Forests ◽

10.3390/f11020164 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 164 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Mengjun Hu ◽

Yanchun Liu ◽

Tiantian Wang ◽

Yuanfeng Hao ◽

Zheng Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Microbial Biomass ◽

Soil Properties ◽

Aboveground Biomass ◽

Dead Wood ◽

Mixed Forest ◽

Central China ◽

Biomass Combustion ◽

Microbial Biomass N ◽

Organic C ◽

N Concentration

Fire is the predominant natural disturbance that influences the community structure as well as ecosystem function in forests. This study was conducted to examine the soil properties, loss of aboveground biomass, and understory plant community in response to an anthropogenic fire in a coniferous (Pinus massoniana Lamb.) and broadleaf (Quercus acutissima Carruth.) mixed forest in a subtropical–temperate climatic transition zone in Central China. The results showed that soil pH, NO3−-N concentration, and microbial biomass carbon (C) increased three months after the fire; however, there were no significant differences in soil organic C, total nitrogen (N), NH4+-N concentration, or microbial biomass N between the burned and unburned observed plots. The total aboveground biomass was 39.0% lower in the burned than unburned plots four weeks after fire. Direct biomass combustion (19.15 t ha−1, including understory shrubs and litters) was lower than dead wood biomass loss (23.69 t ha−1) caused by the fire. The declining trends of tree mortality with increasing diameter at breast height for both pine and oak trees suggest that small trees are more likely to die during and after fires due to the thinner bark of small trees and tree and branch fall. In addition, burning significantly stimulated the density of shrub (160.9%) and herb (88.0%), but it also affected the richness of shrub and herb compared with that in the unburned plots two months after the fire. The rapid recovery of understory plants after fires suggest that the diversity of understory species could benefit from low-severity fires. Our findings highlight that the decomposition of dead wood and understory community recovery should be considered for offsetting C emissions after fires for further research.

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