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Acta Prataculturae Sinica ›› 2016, Vol. 25 ›› Issue (10): 21-30.DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2015484

• Orginal Article • Previous Articles     Next Articles

The spatial differentiation of soil properties under banded vegetation systems on the Loess Plateau

LV Wen-Qiang1, DANG Hong-Zhong2, *, WANG Li1, DANG Han-Jin2, HE Xiu-Dao1   

  1. 1.College of Forestry, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China;
    2.Institute of Desertification Studies, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China
  • Received:2015-10-21 Online:2016-10-20 Published:2016-10-20

Abstract: In order to explore the effects of banded vegetation on soil properties and their spatial differentiation, an analysis was carried out on the Loess Plateau of the 0-60 cm soil layers of typical banded hedgerows made up of Caragana korshinskii and Armeniaca sibirica. The results showed that: (1) There were significant spatial differences in soil moisture physical properties within the hedgerow systems and these also varied across the different types of hedgerow. Soil bulk density, maximum water holding capacity, non-capillary porosity and total porosity varied significantly under the C. korshinskii hedgerow system (P<0.05), and soil capillary porosity and non-capillary porosity varied significantly under the A. sibirica system (P<0.05). (2) Under the two types of hedgerows, there were significant differences in the contents of water-stable micro-aggregates (<0.25 mm) and small aggregates (0.25-2 mm) (P<0.05). The spatial differentiation of water-stable aggregates with particle sizes less than 2 mm was obviously affected by the hedgerows. (3) There were no significant differences in the contents of soil sand (0.05-2 mm), silt (0.002-0.05 mm) and clay (<0.002 mm) under the two hedgerow systems, although hedgerows can change the relative composition of these three components. (4) There were differences in the content of soil organic matter under the two hedgerow systems. The content of soil organic matter was distributed as follows: for the C. korshinskii system, inner-band (3.57%, grade Ⅱ)>behind band (3.09%, grade Ⅱ)>inter-band (2.72%, grade Ⅲ)>in front of band (2.64%, grade Ⅲ); for the A. sibirica system, inter-band (1.47%, grade Ⅳ)>inner-band (1.41%, grade Ⅳ). (5) Soil sand and water-stable small aggregates showed a significant positive correlation with soil organic matter (P<0.01). Silt and clay showed a significant negative correlation with soil organic matter (P<0.05). There were no significant correlations between soil organic matter and either soil bulk density, water-stable macro-aggregates or micro-aggregates.