Soil microbial parameters and stability of soil aggregate fractions under different grassland communities on the Loess Plateau,China |
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Authors: | Shao-shan An Axel Mentler Veronica Acosta-Martínez Winfried E H Blum |
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Institution: | 1.Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources,Northwest A&F University,Yangling,P.R. China;2.Institute of Soil Science, Department of Forest and Soil Sciences,University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences,Vienna,Austria;3.USDA-ARS, Cropping Systems Research Laboratory,Wind Erosion and Water Conservation Research Unit,Lubbock,USA |
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Abstract: | Over-grazing and large-scale monocultures on the Loess plateau in China have caused serious soil erosion by water and wind.
Grassland revegetation has been reported as one of the most effective counter measures. Therefore, we investigated soil aggregation,
aggregate stability and soil microbial activities as key parameters for soil remediation through grassland revegetation.
The results showed that soil microbial biomass carbon (Cmic) and microbial biomass nitrogen (Nmic) increased under revegetated
grass communities compared to cropland and overgrazed pastures and were higher in surface layers (0–10 cm) than in the subsurface
(10–20 cm). Although there are variations between the four investigated grassland communities, their values were 10 to 50
times higher in comparison to the cropland and overgrazed pastures, similar to the increase in soil enzyme activities, such
as β-glucosidase and β-glucosaminidase.
Soil aggregate stability (SAS) showed clear differences between the different land uses with two main soil aggregate fractions
measured by ultra sound: < 63 μm and 100–250 μm, with approximately 70% and 10% of the total soil volume respectively. We
also found positive correlations between SAS and soil microbial parameters, such as Cmic, Nmic, and soil enzyme activities.
From this, we concluded that revegetation of eroded soils by grasses accelerates soil rehabilitation. |
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Keywords: | enzyme activities grassland revegetation soil microbial biomass C(Cmic) soil microbial biomass N(Nmic) soil aggregate fractions and stability Loess Plateau of China |
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