Plant community characteristics, soil organic carbon and soil biological properties of grassland desertification sites in Northwest Sichuan

doi:10.11686/cyxb2015523

Abstract

Abstract: Changes in surface vegetation cover, soil organic carbon and soil microorganisms associated with alpine grassland desertification in Northwest Sichuan were explored. We studied the surface vegetation cover, aboveground and underground biomass and the vertical distribution of soil organic carbon and microorganisms in different grassland on sandy soils using repeated sampling. The results showed that with aggravation of desertification, vegetation cover and aboveground and underground biomass decreased sharply. Compared with grassland not undergoing desertification, aboveground biomass of grassland suffering mild, medium, heavy and severe desertification was decreased by 13.0%, 91.8%, 76.5% and 40.6% respectively. Underground biomass decreased by 21.4%, 44.0%, 83.4% and 94.7% respectively. With the increase of the degree of desertification, soil organic carbon and humus carbon fractions showed a declining trend, most obvious in the 0-20 cm soil layer. There were differences among different soil layers but there were no differences between grassland undergoing heavy and severe desertification. The degree of desertification also influenced the number of soil microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, actinomycetes) and microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen; desertification reduced all of these soil traits.

SHU Xiang-Yang, HU Yu-Fu, JIANG Shuang-Long, MA Chang, LI Yi-Ding, PU Qin, WANG Qian. Plant community characteristics, soil organic carbon and soil biological properties of grassland desertification sites in Northwest Sichuan[J]. Acta Prataculturae Sinica, 2016, 25(4): 45-54.

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