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Understory Vegetation and Drought Effects on Soil Aggregate Stability and Aggregate‐Associated Carbon on the Loess Plateau in China
Author(s) -
Zhang Qingyin,
Shao Ming'an,
Jia Xiaoxu,
Zhang Chencheng
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
soil science society of america journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1435-0661
pISSN - 0361-5995
DOI - 10.2136/sssaj2017.05.0145
Subject(s) - throughfall , understory , environmental science , vegetation (pathology) , soil carbon , afforestation , soil science , hydrology (agriculture) , soil water , agroforestry , ecology , geology , canopy , biology , geotechnical engineering , medicine , pathology
Core Ideas Precipitation–throughfall exclusion and the removal of understory had no influence on total SOC. Throughfall exclusion and removal of the understory significantly affected soil aggregate stability. Throughfall exclusion and lack of understory also affected aggregate‐associated organic C pools. Restoration of understory vegetation had some potential to increase total SOC sequestration. Artificial afforestation is a common strategy for ecological recovery on the Loess Plateau, China, which causes the development of understory vegetation and drought stress. However, the influence of the understory vegetation and drought conditions on soil aggregate stability and aggregate‐associated soil organic carbon (SOC) are still not well understood. We evaluated the impacts of understory development and drought stress on soil aggregate stability and associated SOC during 2015 and 2016 in an artificial afforestation area in Shaanxi Province, China. The study had four treatments: control (CK), precipitation and throughfall excluded + understory present (TE), precipitation and throughfall allowed + understory removed (NU), and precipitation and throughfall excluded + understory removed (TE‐NU). Soil moisture was significantly reduced by the exclusion of precipitation and throughfall. Aboveground biomass in the CK was significantly higher than that of TE. Precipitation–throughfall exclusion and the removal of understory vegetation significantly decreased soil aggregate stability and aggregate‐associated organic C pools, while they had no influence on the total SOC pools. This indicated that soil aggregate stability and aggregate‐associated organic C may be more sensitive to changes in the external environment. These suggest that understory vegetation restoration had some potential to increase total SOC sequestration in the artificial afforestation on the Loess Plateau of China.