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Acta Prataculturae Sinica ›› 2024, Vol. 33 ›› Issue (2): 28-38.DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2023133

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Microhabitat plant diversity and biomass differences in abandoned karst farmland and their driving factors

Ying LEI(), Jie LUO, Xu-man GUO, Er-ting BI, Jin-chun LIU()   

  1. Key Laboratory of Eco-environments in Three Gorges Reservoir Region,Chongqing Key Laboratory of Plant Ecology and Resources Research in Three Gorges Reservoir Region,School of Life Sciences,Southwest University,Chongqing 400715,China
  • Received:2023-04-24 Revised:2023-05-29 Online:2024-02-20 Published:2023-12-12
  • Contact: Jin-chun LIU

Abstract:

An in-depth investigation of changes in species diversity and biomass in different ecological niches of typical abandoned arable land in karst areas of Chongqing was conducted to provide a theoretical basis for community restoration in the early vegetation succession following farmland abandonment. The former farmland under study had been abandoned for four to six years. The vegetation biomass and species diversity together with changes in soil physicochemical properties, and their relationships were studied in four microhabitats: homogeneous shallow soil, homogeneous deep soil, heterogeneous trapezoid and heterogeneous funnel. It was found that: 1) Soil water content increased with soil depth, but total nitrogen and carbon nitrogen ratio decreased with soil depth. In the two heterogeneous habitats, the coefficients of variation for soil depth and soil water content differed little and indicated high intensity of variation. 2) The richness index, Shannon-Wiener index and Pielou index were not significantly different among the different microhabitats. 3) There were no significant differences between the aboveground biomass of the four microhabitats, while the below-ground biomass and total biomass of heterogeneous habitats were higher than those of homogeneous habitats. 4) There was a significant negative correlation (P<0.05) between the biomass and species diversity data for microhabitats with heterogeneous funnel. However, there was no significant relationship in other habitats. Resource heterogeneity had a positive effect on community biomass in the early succession stages after abandonment of karst farmland, but biodiversity was not greatly affected by habitat at this stage. Medium-thickness soil was found to promote plant growth and maintain productivity, while high-thickness soils counterintuitively had lower productivity due to lower nutrient content and poor permeability. Therefore, in the early stages of vegetation restoration, the characteristics of each habitat type should be fully understood in order to manage the recovery to maintain the diversity and growth of the vegetation.

Key words: rocky desertification, habitat heterogeneity, resource availability, biodiversity