Using InVEST to evaluate water yield services in Shangri-La, Northwestern Yunnan, China

Water yield is an ecosystem service that is vital to not only human life, but also sustainable development of the social economy and ecosystem. This study used annual average precipitation, potential evapotranspiration, plant available water content, soil depth, biophysical parameters, Zhang parameter, and land use/land cover (LULC) as input data for the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Service Tradeoffs (InVEST) model to estimate the water yield of Shangri-La City from 1974 to 2015. The spatiotemporal variations and associated factors (precipitation, evapotranspiration, LULC, and topographic factors) in water yield ecosystem services were then analyzed. The result showed that: (1) The water yield of Shangri-La City decreases from north and south to the center and showed a temporal trend from 1974 to 2015 of an initial decrease followed by an increase. Areas of higher average water yield were mainly in Hutiaoxia Town, Jinjiang Town, and Shangjiang Township. (2) Areas of importance for water yield in the study area which need to be assigned priority protection were mainly concentrated in the west of Jiantang Town, in central Xiaozhongdian Town, in central Gezan Township, in northwestern Dongwang Township, and in Hutiaoxia Town. (3) Water yield was affected by precipitation, evapotranspiration, vegetation type, and topographic factors. Water yield was positively and negatively correlated with precipitation and potential evapotranspiration, respectively. The average water yield of shrubs exceeded that of meadows and forests. Terrain factors indirectly affected the ecosystem service functions of water yield by affecting precipitation and vegetation types. The model used in this study can provide references for relevant research in similar climatic conditions.

Sloping land use affects the complexity of soil moisture and temperature changes in the loess hilly region of China

Various land use types have been implemented by the government in the loess hilly region of China to facilitate sustainable land use. Understanding the variability in soil moisture and temperature under various sloping land use types can aid the ecological restoration and sustainable utilization of sloping land resources. The objective of this study was to use approximate entropy (ApEn) to reveal the variations in soil moisture and temperature under different land use types, because ApEn only requires a short data series to obtain robust estimates, with a strong anti-interference ability. An experiment was conducted with four typical land use scenarios (i.e., soybean sloping field, maize terraced field, jujube orchard, and grassland) over two consecutive plant growing seasons (2014 and 2015), and the time series of soil moisture and temperature within different soil depth layers of each land use type were measured in both seasons. The results showed that the changing amplitude, degree of variation, and active layer of soil moisture in the 0–160 cm soil depth layer, as well as the changing amplitude and degree of variation of soil temperature in the 0–100 cm soil layer increased in the jujube orchard over the two growing seasons. The changing amplitude, degree of variation, and active layer of soil moisture all decreased in the maize terraced field, as did the changing amplitude and degree of variation of soil temperature. The ApEn of the soil moisture series was the lowest in the 0–160 cm soil layer in the maize terraced field, and the ApEn of the soil temperature series was the highest in the 0–100 cm layer in the jujube orchard in the two growing seasons. Finally, the jujube orchard soil moisture and temperature change process were more variable, whereas the changes in the maize terraced field were more stable, with a stable soil moisture and temperature. This work highlights the usefulness of ApEn for revealing soil moisture and temperature changes and to guide the management and development of sloping fields.

Peatland Degradation Reduces Microbial Richness and Alters Microbial Functions in an Australian Peatland

Peatland ecosystems cover only 3 % of the world’s land area, however they store one-third of the global soil carbon (C). Peatlands play a central role in global C cycling as they contain more organic C than any other terrestrial ecosystem. Microbial communities are the main drivers of C decomposition in peatlands, yet we have limited knowledge of their structure and function. We investigated the vertical stratification of prokaryote and fungal communities from Wellington Plains peatland in the Australian Alps. Within the peatland complex, bog peat was sampled from the intact peatland and dried peat from the degraded peatland along a vertical soil depth gradient (i.e., acrotelm, mesotelm and catotelm). We analysed the prokaryote and fungal community structure, predicted functional profiles of prokaryotes using PICRUSt and assigned soil fungal guilds using FUNGuild. We found that the structure and the function of prokaryotes was vertically stratified in the intact bog. Carbon, manganese, nitrogen, lead and sodium best explained the prokaryote composition. Prokaryote richness was significantly higher in the intact bog acrotelm compared to degraded bog acrotelm. Fungal composition remained similar across the soil depth gradient, however there was a considerable increase in saprotroph abundance and decrease in endophyte abundance along the vertical soil depth gradient. The abundance of saprotrophs and plant pathogens was two-fold higher in the degraded bog acrotelm. Manganese, nitrogen, electrical conductivity and water table level (cm) best explained the fungal composition. Our results demonstrate that both fungal and prokaryote communities are shaped by soil abiotic factors and peatland degradation reduces microbial richness and alters microbial functions. Thus, current and future changes to the environmental conditions in these peatlands may lead to altered microbial community structure and associated functions which may have implications for broader ecosystem function changes in peatlands.

Exploitation of neighbouring subsoil for nutrient acquisition under annual-perennial strip intercropping systems

Little is known of how the deep root systems of perennial crops contribute to deeper and better resource use when intercropped with annuals in arable fields. Therefore, we aimed at measuring the capacity of perennial deep roots, alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) and curly dock (Rumex crispus L.) to access the nutrient source located under the neighboring annuals at 1.0 and 2.5 m of soil depth. Alfalfa and curly dock were able to access the tracer-labelled source placed at a distance under the annual crop strips. As a result, the reliance on deeper soil layer for nutrient uptake under intercroppings became greater compared with sole-croppings. Combination of an annual cereal (winter rye) and a perennial legume (alfalfa) with contrasting root systems exhibited higher resource complementarity compared with intercroppings having similar root systems or absence of legumes. Our results demonstrated that the deep-rooted perennials when intercropped with annuals can induce vertical niche complementarity, especially at deeper soil layers. This was assumed to be due to the vertically stratified root activity between the crop components, however, the magnitude of the effects depended on choice of crop combinations, and on types of tracers. Future studies should include estimates such as relative yield total and land equivalent ratio to quantitatively determine the effects of resource acquisition under annual-perennial intercropping in arable fields.

Effects of stand age and soil organic matter quality on soil bacterial and fungal community composition in Larix gmelinii plantations, Northeast China

It is of great interest to elucidate the biogeographic patterns of soil microorganisms and their driving forces, which is fundamental to predicting alterations in microbial-mediated functions arising from environment changes. Although the vertical movement of dissolved organic matter (DOM) drives the cycle of nutrients such as soil carbon but, in the restored ecosystem, the relationship between DOM and soil microbial nutrient utilization remains to be determined. Here, we investigated the changes of soil microbial community at 0-40 cm depth profile in three stages (10-, 30-, 50-years) of succession in Larix olgensis plantations and the fluorescence spectrum composition of DOM. With the increase of soil depth, the signal source of microorganisms increases. In a coniferous forest soil environment, the possible main source of DOM in deep soil is the production of microbial metabolism. Difficulty in the decomposition of organic matter determines the distribution and composition of microorganisms. Increasing forest age makes bacteria and fungi more specific and bacterial-fungal associations greater. Overall, our work contributes to the understanding of factors underlying microbial community distribution in plantation forests and the importance of DOM quality in building microbial communities.

The Storage of Antecedent Precipitation and Air Temperature Signals in Soil Temperature over China

Soil temperature (ST) is one of the key variables in land-atmosphere interactions. The response of ST to atmospheric changes and subsequent influence of ST on atmosphere can be recognized as the processes of signals propagation. Understanding the storing and releasing of atmosphere signals in ST favors the improvement of climate prediction and weather forecast. However the current understanding of the lagging response of ST to atmospheric changes is very insufficient. The analysis based on observation shows that both the storage of air temperature signals in deep ST even after four months and the storage of precipitation signals in shallow ST after one month are widespread phenomena in China. Air temperature signals at 2m can propagate to the soil depths of 160 cm and 320 cm after 1 month and 2 months, respectively. The storage of antecedent air temperature and precipitation signals in ST is slightly weaker and stronger during April to September, respectively, which is related to more precipitation during growing season. The precipitation signals in ST rapidly weaken after 2 months. Moreover, the effects of accumulated precipitation and air temperature on the signal storage in ST have significant monthly variations and vary linearly with soil depth and latitude. The storage of antecedent air temperature or precipitation signals in ST exhibits an obvious decadal variation with a period of more than 50 years, and it may be resulted from the modulation of the global climate patterns which largely affect local air temperature and precipitation.

Subsurface organic amendment with plastic film mulching reinforced soil organic carbon through altering saline soil aggregate structure and regulating fungal community

The combination of plastic film mulching and subsurface organic amendment is a novel strategy for saline soil amelioration and utilization in China. However, how the strategy affect soil organic carbon (SOC) contents directly and indirectly (physical protection and microbiological regulation) were still not-documented. Therefore, four treatments, i.e., no amendment with and without plastic film mulching, subsurface (10-30 cm soil depth) organic amendment with and without plastic film mulching, were arranged and sampled after three-year filed experiment. Compared with no amendment with and without plastic film mulching, subsurface organic amendment increased the SOC content in the 0-40 cm soil depth by 70% and 90%, respectively. Plastic film mulching decreased SOC by 16% without organic amendment. Subsurface organic amendment transformed the dominant aggregation particles from <0.053 mm to 0.25-2 mm, indicating that both direct carbon input and indirect physical protection contributed to SOC increment. Conversely, SOC decreased with plastic film mulching due to the 14% lower fungal diversity compared with soil without plastic film mulching, was supported by the positive path coefficient from fungal diversity to SOC. Therefore, the combination of plastic film mulching and subsurface organic amendment increased SOC by 61% by direct carbon input and indirect physical protection and microbial regulation. In conclusion, subsurface organic amendment with plastic film mulching reinforced soil organic carbon increment through altering saline soil aggregate structure and regulating fungal community, and confirmed it is a feasible way to increase SOC for saline soil amelioration.

Analysis of the Characteristics of the Land Creeping (Slow-Moving) at Seomyeon, Suncheon-Si Area

This study was conducted to prevent land creeping by examining various features such as geology, topography, and physical characteristics, using the case of a land-crawled region. The first land creeping occurred in Seomyeon Suncheon-si in 2000, and the second occurred in 2020; the damaged surface area of the second event was approximately 21.7 times that of the first, and it was discovered Sunchoen-si Landcreep occur because of forest road cut affected. After 1 h, it was moderate at a soil depth of 20, 100, 200, and 250 cm from the surface soil, according to a measurement result of soil dispersity. It was severe at soil depths of 100, 200, and 250 cm, and the clay soil between the bedrock was mild to severe, and it was determined to be severe in locations where groundwater was leaching. The objective study area was a typical land creeping-type landslide caused by weathered rocks, and this area belonged to a type of convex terrain ground (凸) form. The land creeping occurred in the convex area (凸). As a result of analyzing the landslide hazard grade, the creeping land area is found to be different from ordinary landslides because it includes most areas of landslide hazard grade 3–5 and out of the grade. Results show that the land creeping has proceeded in the directions of S15°E, S20°E, S25°E, and S30°E, which is consistent with the direction following the flow duration of groundwater determined using the electrical resistivity survey method.