The Spatial Distribution Characteristics of Soil Nutrients Underlying Biological Crusts at Regional Scale: A Case Study of Mu Us Sandy Land<
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S153.6

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National Natural Science Foundation of China General Project (41971131); National Key R&D Program Project

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    Abstract:

    【Objective】As an active ground cover widely distributed in arid areas, biological crusts have an important impact on the nutrient cycle of desert ecosystems. At present, research on the nutrient effects of biological crusts is mostly concentrated on the plot scale. This study explores the spatial characteristics of biological crust nutrients at the regional scale. We aim to provide a reference for research methods on the nutrient characteristics of biological crusts at the regional scale and also provide a scientific evaluation for the ecological value of biological crust in a desert ecosystem. 【Method】The ecological restoration project carried out since 1959 has enabled the vegetation coverage in Mu Us to reach 40-50%, and biological crusts are widely distributed in this area as a sign of sandy land fixation. This study selected 146 sample points that cover the entire Mu Us Sandy land, and used geostatistics combined with multivariate statistical analysis to explore the spatial heterogeneity, distribution pattern and influencing factors of the soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP). 【Result】Biological crusts increased the nutrient content of the desert soil. The autocorrelation range of SOC and TP was relatively large, with variable ranges of 171.83 km and 147.78 km respectively, while the autocorrelation range of TN was relatively small. The nugget coefficients of SOC, TN, and TP were 53.3%, 49.86%, and 20.2%, respectively. SOC and TN exhibited moderately strong spatial autocorrelation, while TP exhibited strong spatial autocorrelation. The content of TP decreased from east to west, whereas the content of SOC and TN presented a high-low-high-low band distribution from east to west. Importantly, the main control variation factors of the three soil nutrients were different. The stepwise regression model of SOC introduced three variables, soil moisture (sm), surface downward shortwave radiation (srad), and normalized vegetation index (NDVI), while the stepwise regression model of TN introduced two variables, average temperature (Tas) and normalized vegetation index (NDVI). Additionally, wind speed (ws) and soil moisture (sm) were introduced into the stepwise regression model of TP as the first and second factors, respectively. 【Conclusion】Biological crusts in the Mu Us sandy land increased the nutrient content of desert soils. Three kinds of nutrient elements (TN, TP and SOC) showed spatial correlation and were directly or indirectly affected by vegetation conditions, surface water and heat balance, and other factors. On a regional scale, the nutrient content of soils under this biological crust was higher in the eastern part of the study area and lower in the southwest.

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GUO Qi, BU Chongfeng, LI Yiping, JU Mengcheng, LI Yahong, WEI Yingxin. The Spatial Distribution Characteristics of Soil Nutrients Underlying Biological Crusts at Regional Scale: A Case Study of Mu Us Sandy Land<[J]. Acta Pedologica Sinica,2022,59(3):699-708.

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History
  • Received:July 23,2020
  • Revised:February 20,2021
  • Adopted:March 22,2021
  • Online: April 07,2021
  • Published: