Generic placeholder image

Recent Innovations in Chemical Engineering

Editor-in-Chief

ISSN (Print): 2405-5204
ISSN (Online): 2405-5212

Research Article

Soil Physico-chemical Properties and Microbial Activity in Ecological Restoration Red Soil Region of Subtropical Southern China

Author(s): Liu Qiming*, Li Yao, Ge Jian, Jiao Yupei and Cao Yinglan

Volume 13, Issue 1, 2020

Page: [72 - 80] Pages: 9

DOI: 10.2174/2405520412666190820111144

Price: $65

Abstract

Background and Objective: The objectives of this study were to investigate the effects of land use and land cover transitions on soil physico-chemical properties, and to comparatively study soil microbial activity in ecological restoration red soil region of subtropical southern China.

Methods: A field experiment was conducted in a natural forest, four ecological restoration forests and an adjacent farmland. Based on the stable carbon isotopes of SOM, the δ13C values data confirm the 6 sites for soil sampling in this study were the ideal location for studying land cover transitions. The data showed that the soil physical, chemical and biological properties under the natural forest were significantly healthier than under cultivation. During forest re-growth on farmland, the ecological restoration time were 34, 26, 15 and 10a, respectively, and the SOM content, C/N, soil colony counts, soil basal respiration and soil enzyme activities significantly increased and approached values of virgin forest.

Results & Conclusion: In general, the SOM content and soil microbial activities in ecological restoration forest were usually intermediate between the natural forest and farmland, and there was significant (P< 0.05) difference between forest and farmland. The results indicated that, because of appropriate climatic conditions of red soil subtropical southern China, the dynamic balance of soil ecosystems can be reconstructed and restored in several years or decades.

Keywords: Ecological restoration, red soil, microbial activity, physio-chemical, soil organic matter (SOM), soil enzyme activities.

Graphical Abstract
[1]
Alef Ž, Nannipieri KP. Methods in Applied Soil Microbiology and Biochemistry. London: Academic Press 1995.
[2]
Amundson R. The carbon budget in soils. Annu Rev Earth Planet Sci 2001; 29(1): 535-62.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev.earth.29.1.535]
[3]
Ananyeva ND, Susyan EA, Chernova OV, Wirth S. Microbial respiration activities of soils from different climatic regions of European Russia. Eur J Soil Biol 2008; 44(2): 147-57.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejsobi.2007.05.002]
[4]
Andreetta A, Macci C, Giansoldati V. Masciandaro G. Microbial activity and organic matter composition in Mediterranean humus forms. Geoderma 2013; 209- 210(2013): 198-208.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2013.06.010]
[5]
Awiti AO, Walsh MG, Kinyamario J. Dynamics of topsoil carbon and nitrogen along a tropical forest-cropland chronosequence: Evidence from stable isotope analysis and spectroscopy. Agric Ecosyst Environ 2008; 127(1): 265-72.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2008.04.012]
[6]
Beniston JW, DuPont ST, Glover JD, Lal R, Dungait JAJ. Soil organic carbon dynamics 75 years after land-use change in perennial grassland and annual wheat agricultural systems. Biogeochem 2014; 120(1): 37-49.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10533-014-9980-3]
[7]
Blagodatskaya E, Yuyukina T, Blagodatsky S. Turnover of soil organic matter and of microbial biomass under C3-C4 vegetation change - consideration of 13C fractionation and preferential substrate utilization. Soil Biol Biochem 2012; 43(1): 159-66.
[PMID: 43]
[8]
Boutton TW, Wong WW, Hachey DL, Lee LS, Cabrera MP, Klein PD. Comparison of quartz and pyrex tubes for combustion of organic samples for stable carbon isotope analysis. Anal Chem 1983; 55(1): 1832-3.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ac00261a049]
[9]
Camiña F, Trasar-Cepeda C, Gil-Sotres F, Leirós C. Measurement of dehydrogenase activity in acid soils rich in organic matter. Soil Biol Biochem 1998; 30(1): 1005-11.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0038-0717(98)00010-8]
[10]
Don A, Schumacher J, Freibauer A. Impact of tropical land-use change on soil organic carbon stocks - a meta-analysis. Glob Change Biol 2011; 17(4): 1658-70.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2010.02336.x]
[11]
Dunjo G, Pardini G, Gispert M. Land use change effects on abandoned terraced soils in a Mediterranean catchment, NE Spain. Catena 2003; 52(1): 23-37.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0341-8162(02)00148-0]
[12]
Elgersma KJ, Ehrenfeld JG, Yu S, Vor T. Legacy effects overwhelm the short-term effects of exotic plant invasion and restoration on soil microbial community structure, enzyme activities, and nitrogen cycling. Oecologia 2011; 167(3): 733-45.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00442-011-2022-0] [PMID: 21618010]
[13]
Filip Z. International approach to assessing soil quality by ecologically-related biological parameters. Agric Ecosyst Environ 2002; 88(2): 169-74.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0167-8809(01)00254-7]
[14]
Garcia C, Hernandez T, Costa F, Ceccanti B, Masciandaro G. The dehydrogenase activity of soils and ecological marker in processes of perturbed system regeneration. InXI Int Symposium Environ Biogeochem, Salamanca, Spain 1993; 27(1): 89-100.
[15]
Giai C, Boerner REJ. Effects of ecological restoration on microbial activity, microbial functional diversity, and soil organic matter in mixed-oak forests of southern Ohio, USA. Appl Soil Ecol 2007; 35(2): 281-90.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apsoil.2006.08.003]
[16]
Guo L, Gifford R. Soil carbon stocks and land use change: A meta-analysis. Glob Change Biol 2002; 8(4): 345-60.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1354-1013.2002.00486.x]
[17]
ISRIC. Procedures for Soil Analysis. International Soil Reference and Information Center. van Reeuwijk LP, Ed. ISRIC 2002
[18]
Klose S, Tabatabai MA. Urease activity of microbial biomass in soils. Soil Biol Biochem 1999; 31(2): 205-11.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0038-0717(98)00090-X]
[19]
Kotroczó Z, Veres Z, Fekete I, Krakomperger Z. Soil enzyme activity in response to long-term organic matter manipulation. Soil Biol Biochem 2014; 70(2): 237-43.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2013.12.028]
[20]
Laganière J, Angers DA, Paré D. Carbon accumulation in agricultural soils after afforestation: A meta-analysis. Glob Change Biol 2010; 16(1): 439-53.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2009.01930.x]
[21]
Liang Y, Li DC, Lu XX, et al. Soil erosion changes over the past five decades in the red soil region of Southern China. J Mt Sci 2010; 7(1): 92-9.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11629-010-1052-0]
[22]
McKinley DC, Ryan MG, Birdsey RA, et al. A synthesis of current knowledge on forests and carbon storage in the United States. Ecol Appl 2011; 21(6): 1902-24.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/10-0697.1] [PMID: 21939033]
[23]
Metting FB, Smith JL, Amthor JS, Izaurralde RC. Science needs and new technology for increasing soil carbon sequestration. Clim Change 2001; 51(1): 11-34.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1017509224801]
[24]
Nannipieri P, Kandeler E, Ruggiero P. Enzyme activities and microbiological and biochemical processes in soil. In: Burns RG, Dick RP, Eds Enzymes in the Environment Activity, Ecology and Applications. New York: Marcel Dekker 2002; pp. 1-33.
[25]
Parihara CM, Yadavb MR, Jata SL, et al. Long term effect of conservation agriculture in maize rotations on total organic carbon, physical and biological properties of a sandy loam soil in north-western Indo-Gangetic Plains. Soil Tillage Res 2016; 161(2): 116-28.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2016.04.001]
[26]
Poeplau C, Don A, Vesterdal L, et al. Temporal dynamics of soil organic carbon after land-use change in the temperate zone - carbon response functions as a model approach. Glob Change Biol 2011; 17(3): 2415-27.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2011.02408.x]
[27]
Rietl AJ, Jackson CR. Effects of the ecological restoration practices of prescribed burning and mechanical thinning on soil microbial enzyme activities and leaf litter decomposition. Soil Biol Biochem 2012; 50(1): 47-57.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2012.03.008]
[28]
Ros M, Hernandez MT, García C. Soil microbial activity after restoration of a semiarid soil by organic amendments. Soil Biol Biochem 2003; 35(3): 463-9.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0038-0717(02)00298-5]
[29]
Samuel AD, Domuta C, Sandor M, Vuscan A, Domuta C. The estimation of phosphatase activity in soil. Res J Agric Sci 2010; 42(3): 311-4.
[30]
Schmidt MWI, Torn MS, Abiven S, et al. Persistence of soil organic matter as an ecosystem property. Nature 2011; 478(7367): 49-56.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature10386] [PMID: 21979045]
[31]
Shi S, Zhang W, Zhang P, Yu Y, Ding F. A synthesis of change in deep soil organic carbon stores with afforestation of agricultural soils. For Ecol Manage 2013; 296(1): 53-63.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2013.01.026]
[32]
Singh K, Singh B, Singh RR. Changes in physico-chemical, microbial and enzymatic activities during restoration of degraded sodic land: Ecological suitability of mixed forest over monoculture plantation. Catena 2012; 96(1): 57-67.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2012.04.007]
[33]
Sinsabaugh RL, Klug MJ, Collins HP, Yeager PE, Petersen SO. Characterizing soil microbial communities. In: Robertson GP, Bledsoe CS, Coleman DC, Sollins P, Eds. Standard Soil Methods for Long Term Ecological Research. New York: Oxford University Press 1999; pp. 318-48
[34]
Susyan EA, Wirth S, Ananyeva ND, Stolnikova EV. Forest succession on abandoned arable soils in European Russia- Impacts on microbial biomass, fungal-bacterial ratio, and basal CO2 respiration activity. Eur J Soil Biol 2011; 47(3): 169-74.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejsobi.2011.04.002]
[35]
Tabatabai MA. Soil enzymes Methods of Soil Analysis: Part 2 Microbiological and Chemical Properties. Madison, WI: Soil Science Society of America Inc. 1994.
[36]
Tejada M, Hernandez MT, Garcia C. Soil restoration using composted plant residues: Effects on soil properties. Soil Tillage Res 2009; 102(1): 109-17.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2008.08.004]
[37]
Trevors JT. Dehydrogenase activity in soil. A comparison between the INT and TTC assay. Soil Biol Biochem 1984; 16(1): 673-4.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0038-0717(84)90090-7]
[38]
Yang G, Yang Y, Feng Z. Land use change over red soil hilly regions in Southern China: Taking Jitai Basin as an example. Prog Geogr 2010; 29(1): 483-8.
[39]
Yin R, Deng H, Wang HL, Zhang B. Vegetation type affects soil enzyme activities and microbial functional diversity following re-vegetation of a severely eroded red soil in sub-tropical China. Catena 2014; 115(1): 96-103.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2013.11.015]

Rights & Permissions Print Cite
© 2024 Bentham Science Publishers | Privacy Policy