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Soil nitrogen and denitrification potential as affected by land use and stand age following agricultural abandonment in a headwater catchment
Author(s) -
ZHANG K.,
CHENG X.,
DANG H.,
YE C.,
ZHANG Q.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
soil use and management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.709
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1475-2743
pISSN - 0266-0032
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-2743.2012.00420.x
Subject(s) - denitrification , environmental science , topsoil , shrubland , vegetation (pathology) , grassland , ecological succession , agronomy , agricultural land , soil organic matter , hydrology (agriculture) , soil water , land use , agroforestry , soil science , nitrogen , ecology , ecosystem , chemistry , geology , biology , medicine , geotechnical engineering , organic chemistry , pathology
Changes in vegetation and soil properties because of agricultural abandonment may affect soil nitrogen (N) and associated processes. We investigated soil N (total N: TN, inorganic N: NH 4 –N and NO 3 –N) and denitrification potential in cropland, pine plantations and abandoned agricultural land along a secondary succession sequence (grassland→shrubland→secondary forest) in a headwater catchment in the Qinling Mountains, northwest China. The results show that the soil denitrification potential differed significantly among the five land‐use types with the highest potential in the secondary forest, followed by grassland, shrubland, cropland and plantations. The denitrification potential of the 20‐ to 40‐cm layer was significantly lower compared with the topsoil (0–20 cm) across all land‐use types. TN, soil organic matter (SOM) and NH 4 –N increased significantly with stand age, whereas there was an opposite trend in soil pH. However, the denitrification potential did not relate to stand age in a linear manner. We conclude that changes in soil TN, SOM and pH during vegetation succession following agricultural abandonment are critical controls on the denitrification potential.