scholarly journals Ecological stoichiometry of plant leaves, litter and soils in a secondary forest on China’s Loess Plateau

PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e10084
Author(s):  
Zongfei Wang ◽  
Fenli Zheng
Keyword(s):  
Leaf Litter ◽  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Ecological Stoichiometry ◽  
Secondary Forest ◽  
Vegetation Restoration ◽  
Forest Growth ◽  
P Element ◽  
Soil System ◽  
P Concentration ◽  
N Concentration

Ecological stoichiometry can reveal nutrient cycles in soil and plant ecosystems and their interactions. However, the ecological stoichiometry characteristics of leaf-litter-soil system of dominant grasses, shrubs and trees are still unclear as are their intrinsic relationship during vegetation restoration. This study selected three dominant plant types of grasses (Imperata cylindrica (I. cylindrica) and Artemisiasacrorum (A.sacrorum)), shrubs (Sophora viciifolia (S. viciifolia) and Hippophae rhamnoides (H. rhamnoides)) and trees (Quercus liaotungensis (Q. liaotungensis) and Betula platyphylla (B. platyphylla)) in secondary forest areas of the Chinese Loess Plateau to investigate ecological stoichiometric characteristics and their intrinsic relationships in leaf-litter-soil systems. The results indicated that N concentration and N:P ratios in leaf and litter were highest in shrubland; leaf P concentration in grassland was highest and litter in forestland had the highest P concentration. Soil C, N and P concentrations were highest in forestland (P < 0.05) and declined with soil depth. Based on the theory that leaf N:P ratio indicates nutritional limitation of plant growth, this study concluded that grass and shrub growth was limited by N and P element, respectively, and forest growth was limited by both of N and P elements. The relationships between the N concentration in soil, leaf and litter was not significant (P >0.5), but the soil P concentration was significantly correlated with litter P concentration (P < 0.05). These finding enhance understanding of nutrient limitations in different plant communities during vegetation restoration and provide insights for better management of vegetation restoration.

scholarly journals Effects of Vegetation Restoration on the Distribution of Nutrients, Glomalin-Related Soil Protein, and Enzyme Activity in Soil Aggregates on the Loess Plateau, China

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 796 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leilei Qiao ◽  
Yuanze Li ◽  
Yahui Song ◽  
Jiaying Zhai ◽  
Yang Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Enzyme Activity ◽  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Soil Enzymes ◽  
Ecological Stoichiometry ◽  
Soil Aggregates ◽  
Soil Aggregate ◽  
Vegetation Restoration ◽  
The Loess Plateau ◽  
Nutrient Metabolism ◽  
Soil Protein

Research Highlights: Soil enzymes have a significant impact on the production of glomalin-related soil protein (GRSP), directly and indirectly affecting the nutrient metabolism balance, but there is little available information on ecological stoichiometry in soil aggregates. Background and Objectives: Vegetation restoration changes community structure and species composition in ecosystems, thus changing the physicochemical properties of soil. Soil aggregate is the most basic physical structure of the soil. Therefore, in order to understand dynamic changes in soil aggregate nutrients as vegetation restoration progresses, we set out to investigate the nutrient distribution and utilization in aggregates, and how enzymes respond to the nutrient changes in achieving a nutritional balance along successive stages of vegetation restoration. Materials and Methods: We collected and analyzed soil from plots representing six different stages of a vegetation restoration chronosequence (0, 30, 60, 100, 130, and 160 years) after farmland abandonment on the Loess Plateau, China. We investigated soil nutrient stoichiometry, GRSP, and enzyme stoichiometry in the different successional stages. Results: The results revealed that soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, enzyme activity, and GRSP increased with vegetation recovery age, but not total phosphorus, and not all enzymes reached their maximum in the climax forest community. The easily extractable GRSP/total GRSP ratio was the largest at the shrub community stage, indicating that glomalin degradation was the lowest at this stage. Ecological stoichiometry revealed N-limitation decreased and P-limitation increased with increasing vegetation restoration age. Soil enzymes had a significant impact on the GRSP production, directly and indirectly affecting nutrient metabolism balance. Conclusions: Further study of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to identify changes in their category and composition is needed for a better understanding of how soil enzymes affect their release of GRSP, in order to maintain a nutrient balance along successive stages of vegetation restoration.

C, N, P Concentration Data from Leaf-Litter-Soil in Six Different Forests of the Loess Plateau

GCdataPR ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang CAO ◽  
Yang CAO ◽  
Ping ZHANG
Keyword(s):  
Leaf Litter ◽  
Loess Plateau ◽  
The Loess Plateau ◽  
Concentration Data ◽  
P Concentration

scholarly journals Community characteristics and distribution patterns of soil fauna after vegetation restoration in the northern Loess Plateau

2021 ◽  
Vol 122 ◽  
pp. 107236
Author(s):  
Xi Yang ◽  
Ming'an Shao ◽  
Tongchuan Li ◽  
Miao Gan ◽  
Mingyu Chen
Keyword(s):  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Soil Fauna ◽  
Distribution Patterns ◽  
Vegetation Restoration ◽  
Community Characteristics

scholarly journals Quantifying the Responses of Evapotranspiration and Its Components to Vegetation Restoration and Climate Change on the Loess Plateau of China

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 2358
Author(s):  
Linjing Qiu ◽  
Yiping Wu ◽  
Zhaoyang Shi ◽  
Yuting Chen ◽  
Fubo Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Dominant Role ◽  
Vegetation Restoration ◽  
Vegetation Coverage ◽  
Ecological Planning ◽  
The Loess Plateau ◽  
Canopy Interception ◽  
Community Land Model ◽  
Spatiotemporal Trends

Quantitatively identifying the influences of vegetation restoration (VR) on water resources is crucial to ecological planning. Although vegetation coverage has improved on the Loess Plateau (LP) of China since the implementation of VR policy, the way vegetation dynamics influences regional evapotranspiration (ET) remains controversial. In this study, we first investigate long-term spatiotemporal trends of total ET (TET) components, including ground evaporation (GE) and canopy ET (CET, sum of canopy interception and canopy transpiration) based on the GLEAM-ET dataset. The ET changes are attributed to VR on the LP from 2000 to 2015 and these results are quantitatively evaluated here using the Community Land Model (CLM). Finally, the relative contributions of VR and climate change to ET are identified by combining climate scenarios and VR scenarios. The results show that the positive effect of VR on CET is offset by the negative effect of VR on GE, which results in a weak variation in TET at an annual scale and an increased TET is only shown in summer. Regardless of the representative concentration pathway (RCP4.5 or RCP8.5), differences resulted from the responses of TET to different vegetation conditions ranging from −3.7 to −1.2 mm, while climate change from RCP4.5 to RCP8.5 caused an increase in TET ranging from 0.1 to 65.3 mm. These findings imply that climate change might play a dominant role in ET variability on the LP, and this work emphasizes the importance of comprehensively considering the interactions among climate factors to assess the relative contributions of VR and climate change to ET.

Long-term vegetation restoration promotes the stability of the soil micro-food web in the Loess Plateau in North-west China

CATENA ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 202 ◽  
pp. 105293
Author(s):  
Yang Wu ◽  
WenJing Chen ◽  
Wulan Entemake ◽  
Jie Wang ◽  
HongFei Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Web ◽  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Vegetation Restoration ◽  
The Loess Plateau ◽  
West China ◽  
North West ◽  
The Stability

scholarly journals Effects of Vegetation Restoration on Soil Erosion on the Loess Plateau: A Case Study in the Ansai Watershed

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (12) ◽  
pp. 6266
Author(s):  
Hui Wei ◽  
Wenwu Zhao ◽  
Han Wang
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Vegetation Restoration ◽  
The Loess Plateau ◽  
Local Soil ◽  
Erosion Environment

Large-scale vegetation restoration greatly changed the soil erosion environment in the Loess Plateau since the implementation of the “Grain for Green Project” (GGP) in 1999. Evaluating the effects of vegetation restoration on soil erosion is significant to local soil and water conservation and vegetation construction. Taking the Ansai Watershed as the case area, this study calculated the soil erosion modulus from 2000 to 2015 under the initial and current scenarios of vegetation restoration, using the Chinese Soil Loess Equation (CSLE), based on rainfall and soil data, remote sensing images and socio-economic data. The effect of vegetation restoration on soil erosion was evaluated by comparing the average annual soil erosion modulus under two scenarios among 16 years. The results showed: (1) vegetation restoration significantly changed the local land use, characterized by the conversion of farmland to grassland, arboreal land, and shrub land. From 2000 to 2015, the area of arboreal land, shrub land, and grassland increased from 19.46 km2, 19.43 km2, and 719.49 km2 to 99.26 km2, 75.97 km2, and 1084.24 km2; while the farmland area decreased from 547.90 km2 to 34.35 km2; (2) the average annual soil erosion modulus from 2000 to 2015 under the initial and current scenarios of vegetation restoration was 114.44 t/(hm²·a) and 78.42 t/(hm²·a), respectively, with an average annual reduction of 4.81 × 106 t of soil erosion amount thanks to the vegetation restoration; (3) the dominant soil erosion intensity changed from “severe and light erosion” to “moderate and light erosion”, vegetation restoration greatly improved the soil erosion environment in the study area; (4) areas with increased erosion and decreased erosion were alternately distributed, accounting for 48% and 52% of the total land area, and mainly distributed in the northwest and southeast of the watershed, respectively. Irrational land use changes in local areas (such as the conversion of farmland and grassland into construction land, etc.) and the ineffective implementation of vegetation restoration are the main reasons leading to the existence of areas with increased erosion.

scholarly journals The Role of Recent (1985–2014) Patterns of Land Abandonment and Environmental Factors in the Establishment and Growth of Secondary Forests in the Iberian Peninsula

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 817
Author(s):  
Marina Palmero-Iniesta ◽  
Josep Maria Espelta ◽  
Mario Padial-Iglesias ◽  
Òscar Gonzàlez-Guerrero ◽  
Lluís Pesquer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Iberian Peninsula ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Secondary Forest ◽  
Forest Growth ◽  
Deciduous Forests ◽  
Secondary Forests ◽  
Study Region ◽  
Leaf Habit ◽  
Forest Establishment

Farmland abandonment has been a widespread land-use change in the Iberian Peninsula since the second half of the 20th century, leading to the establishment of secondary forests across the region. In this study, we aimed to address changes in the recent (1985–2014) emergence patterns of these forests and examine how environmental factors affected their growth by considering differences in leaf-habit types. We used a combination of Landsat-derived land-cover maps and aboveground biomass (AGB) maps from the European Space Agency to assess the secondary forest establishment and growth, respectively, in the study region. We also obtained a set of topographic, climatic and landscape variables from diverse GIS layers and used them for determining changes over time in the environmental drivers of forest establishment and AGB using general linear models. The results highlight that secondary forest cover was still increasing in the Iberian Peninsula at a rate above the European average. Yet, they also indicate a directional change in the emergence of secondary forests towards lower and less steep regions with higher water availability (mean rainfall and SPEI) and less forest cover but are subjected to greater drought events. In addition, these environmental factors differentially affect the growth of forests with different leaf-habit types: i.e., needleleaf secondary forests being less favoured by high temperature and precipitation, and broadleaf deciduous forests being most negatively affected by drought. Finally, these spatial patterns of forest emergence and the contrasting responses of forest leaf-habits to environmental factors explained the major development of broadleaf evergreen compared to broadleaf deciduous forests and, especially, needleleaf secondary forests. These results will improve the knowledge of forest dynamics that have occurred in the Iberian Peninsula in recent decades and provide an essential tool for understanding the potential effects of climate warming on secondary forest growth.

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