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Scientia Silvae Sinicae ›› 2020, Vol. 56 ›› Issue (11): 1-11.doi: 10.11707/j.1001-7488.20201101

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Characterization of Soil Organic Carbon and Nitrogen Components in Three Natural Secondary Forests in Subalpine Regions of Western Sichuan, China

Zongda Hu1,Shirong Liu2,Xingliang Liu3,Mingxia Luo1,Jing Hu4,Yafei Li1,Hao Yu1,Dinghua Ou1,Deyong Wu1   

  1. 1. College of Resources, Sichuan Agricultural University Chengdu 611130
    2. Research Institute of Forest Ecology, Environment and Protection, CAF Beijing 100091
    3. Sichuan Academy of Forestry Chengdu 610081
    4. College of Resources and Environment, Hunan Agricultural University Changsha 410128
  • Received:2020-03-12 Online:2020-11-25 Published:2020-12-30

Abstract:

Objective: This study is aimed to through characterization of the changes of contents of active soil organic carbon and nitrogen, and their influential factors in three secondary natural forests with similar microclimate and soil parent materials, to deepen the understanding of the changes of soil organic carbon and nitrogen stock and contents of active components during the course of regeneration of the natural secondary forest. Method: The study site is located in Jiabigou forest zone of Miyaluo town in western Sichuan, where secondary forest was formed through natural regeneration after logging in the 1960s. Soil samples in the top soil layer (0-20 cm) from Acer spp.+Betula spp. deciduous broadleaf forest (ABB), a Betula spp.+Acer spp.+Abies faxoniana mixed broadleaf-conifer forest (BAA) and a Abies faxoniana pure forest (AFF) were collected in late July, 2018. We investigated the changes of contents of soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), light fraction organic carbon (LFOC), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), dissolved organic nitrogen (DON), dissolved total nitrogen (DTN), dissolved inorganic nitrogen (WDON) microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN), and their relations with physical and chemical soil properties, and species diversity using the method of comparisons of adjacent plots. Correlation analysis was used to reveal the differences of soil active organic carbon and nitrogen fractions. Redundancy analysis (RDA) was determined to decipher the main factors influencing soil organic carbon and nitrogen fractions. Result: The results showed that, due to similar tree species in the ABB and BAA, the contents of SOC, LFOC, DON, and DTN ranked in the order of ABB > BAA > AFF. The contents of SOC, LFOC, MBC, DON, and DTN of AFF compared with ABB and BAA was 46.24% and 41.29%, 51.29% and 31.72%, 46.46% and 41.58%, 54.48% and 28.54%, 56.15% and 48.64% lower, respectively. The content of DOC was in the order of ABB > AFF > BAA. DOC content of AFF compared with ABB and BAA was 25.39% lower and 4.08% higher, respectively. The contents of TN, WDON, and MBN were in the order of BAA>ABB>AFF. The contents of TN and WDON of AFF compared with ABB and BAA was 48.46% and 48.59%, 63.57% and 79.94% lower, respectively. MBN content of AFF was 5.72% lower compared with ABB and 5.26% higher compared with BAA, respectively. Redundancy analysis(RDA) indicated that TN, soil total phosphorus(TP) and Shannon-Wiener index of arbor and herb layers were the major impacting factors for driving changes of soil active organic fraction contents. TN and NO3--N played an important role in driving changes of soil active nitrogen fractions contents. Conclusion: The results indicated that the differences of exogenous nitrogen and phosphorus (especially nitrogen) devotion were responsible for the significant differences of soil active carbon and nitrogen fractions, and the growth rhythm of tree and herbaceous plants, the availability of soil nutrient. The contents of topsoil organic carbon and nitrogen fractions in ABB and BAA were obviously higher than those in AFF. The results implied that AFF were not beneficial to the soil nutrient accumulation in the early stages (≤60 a) of natural regeneration after logging. It was therefore better to increase appropriately the proportion of broad-leaf and herbaceous species in managing A. faxoniana forests for improving soil fertility quality.

Key words: natural secondary forest, soil organic carbon, soil active organic carbon nitrogen fractions, species diversity, sub-alpine of western Sichuan

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