人类活动与气候变化对科尔沁沙质草地植被的影响

1992—2006年在科尔沁沙地开展了草地放牧和封育试验,分析研究了人类放牧活动和气候变化对草地植被的影响。研究结果表明：①人类放牧活动对沙质草地植被具有显著影响,其中轻度放牧可使原退化草地植被盖度、高度、物种丰富度和多样性明显提高,中度放牧下虽然草地植被盖度和高度有所下降,但对物种丰富度和多样性无不良影响,持续过度放牧可以导致草地植被迅速破坏;②围栏封育可以促进退化草地植被盖度、高度、物种丰富度和植物多样性得到较快恢复,其恢复速度是草层高度＞植被盖度＞物种丰富度＞多样性;③暖湿气候有利于草地维持较高的植被盖度、高度、物种丰富度和多样性,而持续干旱会导致相应指标的明显下降,多雨时期气温变化对植被的影响较大,干旱时期降水变化对植被的作用较强。     

Plant distribution at the mobile dune scale and its relevance to soil properties and topographic features

A survey was conducted in an 11-year recovery mobile dune (RMD11) and a 20-year recovery mobile dune (RMD20), in Horqin Sandy Land, Northern China, to determine plant distribution at the mobile dune scale and its relevance to soil properties and topographic features. The results showed that (1) vegetation cover and species number increased from dune top to bottom in the restoration process of mobile dune; (2) the average value of soil organic C, total N, pH, relative height of sampling site, very fine sand content and soil water contents (40−60 and 60−80 cm) of RMD11 were less than that of RMD20, respectively, and there were significant differences (P < 0.05) between the two dunes; (3) soil resources were redistributed by shrub restoration and relative height of sampling site on dune. The distribution of sand pioneer plant, Agriophyllum squarrosum, was positively related to the relative height of sampling site and soil water content, while that of other herbaceous plants was positively related to soil nutrients in the restoration process of mobile dune. These results suggest that at mobile dune scale, plant distributions are determined by a combination of soil properties and topographic feature. Much effort should be made to preserve the interdune lowland and to improve the level of soil nutrients on mobile dune.     

Aeolian desertification from the mid-1970s to 2005 in Otindag Sandy Land, Northern China

Aeolian desertification in Otindag Sandy Land has expanded dramatically during the past 50 years. This research explored processes and causes of aeolian desertification in the study area. The results showed that aeolian desertification development in Zhenglan Qi of typical region located at the center in the study area can be divided into three stages including rapid occurrence before 1987, parts of rehabilitation and most of deterioration from 1987 to 2000 and little rapid rehabilitation occurrence from 2000 to 2005, according to remote sensing images and field investigations. Gradually declining MI indicated that climate change was not the major cause of aeolian desertification development during the last 40 years, while increasing population should be the underlying cause of local aeolian desertification. Irrational human activities mainly including unsuitable reclamation in the 1960s and lasting over-grazing after 1980 are direct causes contributing to local aeolian desertification, especially over-grazing, while climate change often played a revealer of irrational human activities mainly through drought events. Over-grazing and undesirable climate have different functions during the whole aeolian desertification process. Over-grazing gradually changed grasslands to slight aeolian desertified lands at the initial stage, while climate with windy days or droughts often accelerated formation of serious aeolian desertified lands. Aeolian desertification in the study area both possesses occurrence possibility and great rehabilitative potential. At present, more integrated countermeasures combating local aeolian desertification still are expected.     

Field investigation of surface sand and dust movement over different sandy grasslands in the Otindag Sandy Land,China

The characteristics of sand and dust movement over different sandy grasslands in China’s Otindag Sandy Land were explored based on field observations and laboratory analyses. Threshold wind speeds (the speed required to initiate sand movement) at a height of 2 m above the ground were estimated in the field for different surface types. Threshold wind speed above shifting dunes in the study area is about 4.6 m s⁻¹ at this height. This value was smaller than values observed above other surfaces, resulting in a greater risk of blowing sand above these dunes. Differences in sand transport rates (STR) as a function of the severity of desertification resulted primarily from differences in surface vegetation cover and secondarily from the soil’s grain-size distribution. STR increased exponentially with increasing near-bed wind velocity. Under the same wind conditions, STR increased with increasing severity of desertification: from 0.08 g cm⁻² min⁻¹ above semi-fixed dunes to 8 g cm⁻² min⁻¹ above semi-shifting dunes and 25 g cm⁻² min⁻¹ above shifting dunes. Vegetation’s affect on STR was clearly large. Different components of sand and dust were trapped over different lands: mostly sand grains but little dust were trapped above shifting dunes, but much dust was collected over semi-shifting and semi-fixed dunes. Human disturbance is likely to produce dust even from fixed dunes as a result of trampling by animals and vehicle travel. In addition, spring rainfall decreased the risk of sand and dust movement by accelerating germination of plants and the formation of a soil crust.     

Changes in soil physical and chemical properties during reversal of desertification in Yanchi County of Ningxia Hui autonomous region,China

Using field surveys and laboratory analysis, soil physical and chemical properties were studied at a site exhibiting the reversal of desertification in Yanchi County of China’s Ningxia Hui autonomous region. The dominant soil particle size changed from coarse-fine sand to a combination of very fine sand and silt + clay, and corresponding levels of each soil nutrient increased. The content of coarse-fine sand (2–0.1 mm) was significantly and negatively correlated with soil nutrient contents, whereas nutrient contents were significantly and positively correlated with the contents of very fine sand (0.1–0.05 mm) and silt + clay (<0.05 mm). The increasingly fine soil texture and the nutrient enrichment both facilitated rehabilitation of desertified land. The silt + clay content contributed the most to the increasing soil nutrient contents, and thus appears to be the key factor in reversal of desertification. Soil nutrient concentrations in the bulk soil increased with increasing content of soil nutrients with different particle fractions, and there were significant positive correlations between them. The nutrients in all particle size classes jointly decided the effect of soil nutrient contents on the reversal process. Principal-components analysis (PCA) revealed that the soil quality tended to increase during the reversal process, and that nutrient factors were more significant than particle size (i.e., were the dominant factor that influenced soil quality). Available nutrients and soil organic matter (SOM) were the most important nutrient factors. Silt + clay were the most important particle factors.     

鄂尔多斯高原毛乌素沙地湖盆周缘植被与地下水关系研究

受气候变化和人类活动的两重影响,鄂尔多斯高原湖泊呈现不同程度的萎缩趋势,对本区的生态环境产生重大影响。在鄂尔多斯高原毛乌素沙漠腹地选择有代表性湖泊—布寨淖尔湖为研究区,在野外调查的基础上,选取典型剖面详细研究优势植被与地下水的关系,系统总结湖盆周缘地形地貌、包气带岩性结构、地下水水位埋深、水化学特征与植物类型和植被种群的关系,分析影响植被生态的主要因素,揭示湖盆周缘生态水文地质分带规律,划分4个生态水文地质区,提出湖盆周缘优势植被沙蒿(Artemisia)、沙柳(Salix psammophila)和苔草(Carex)的适生地下水位埋深。     

Soil quality changes in land degradation as indicated by soil chemical, biochemical and microbiological properties in a karst area of southwest Guizhou, China

Not only the nutritional status and biological activity but also the soil ecological functioning or soil health has been impacted profoundly by land degradation in the karst area of southwest China where the karst ecosystems are generally considered as extremely vulnerable to land degradation under intensified land-use changes. The objectives of this study are to elucidate the changes in overall soil quality by a holistic approach of soil nutritional, biological activity, and soil health indicators in the karst area as impacted by intense cultivation and vegetation degradation. Topsoil samples were collected on selected eco-tesserae in a sequence of land degradation in a karst area of southwest Guizhou in 2004. The soil nutrient pools of organic carbon (C_org), extractable extracellular carbon (C_ext), total soil nitrogen (N_t), alkali-hydrolyzable nitrogen (N_ah), total phosphorus (P_t), available phosphorus (P_a) were analyzed by wet soil chemistry. The soil biological properties were studied by means of measurements of microbial biomass carbon (both by fumigation–extraction, FE-C_mic, and by calculation from substrate-incubation respiration, SIR-C_mic) of respiration [respiration without addition of substrates, basal respiration (BR), and potential respiration (PR) with substrate-incubation] and of soil enzyme activities (invertase, urease, and alkaline phosphatase). Soil health status was assessed by simple indices of C_mic/C_org and BR/C_mic in conjunction with bacterial community structures determined by polymerase chain reaction and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. While the nutritional pool parameters, such as C_org and C_ext, described basically the changes in soil life-supporting capacity with cultivation interference and vegetation declined, those parameters of biological activity such as FE-C_mic, SIR, and SIR-C_mic as well as bacterial community structures measured by molecular method evidenced well the changes in soil functioning for ecosystem health with the land degradation.     

Comparison of soil organic carbon content,hydraulic conductivity,and particle size fractions between a grassland and a nearby black pine plantation of 40 years in two surface depths

In highlands of semiarid Turkey, ecosystems have been significantly transformed through human actions, and today changes are taking place very rapidly, causing harmful consequences such as soil degradation. This paper examines two neighboring land use types in Indagi Mountain Pass, Cankiri, Turkey, to determine effects of the conversion of Blackpine (Pinus nigra Arn. subsp. pallasiana) plantation from grassland 40 years ago on soil organic carbon (SOC) and soil erodibility (USLE-K). For this purpose, a total of 302 disturbed and undisturbed soil samples were taken at irregular intervals from two sites and from two soil depths of 0–10 cm (D₁) and 10–20 cm (D₂). In terms of SOC, conversion did not make any statistical difference between grassland and plantation; however, there were statistically significant differences with soil depth within each land use, and SOC contents significantly decreased with the soil depth (P < 0.05) and mostly accumulated in D₁. SOC values were 2.4 and 1.8% for grassland and 2.8 and 1.6% for plantation, respectively, at D₁ and D₂. USLE-K values also statistically differed significantly with the land use, and in contrast to the statistics of SOC, there was no change in USLE-K with the soil depth. Since USLE-K was estimated using SOC, hydraulic conductivity (HC) and soil textural composition––sand (S), silt (Si), and clay (C) contents of soils––as well as SOC did not change with the land use, we ascribed the changes of USLE-K with the land uses to the differences in the HC as strongly affected by the interactions between SOC and contents of S, Si, and C. On an average, the soil of the grassland (USLE-K = 0.161 t ha h ha⁻¹ MJ⁻¹ mm⁻¹) was more erodible than those of the plantation (USLE-K = 0.126 t ha h ha⁻¹ MJ⁻¹ mm⁻¹). Additionally, topographic factors, such as aspect and slope, were statistically effective on spatial distribution of the USLE-K and SOC.     

Spatial variability of soil properties in relation to land use and topography in a typical small watershed of the black soil region,northeastern China

Soil degradation resulted from unreasonable land use and erosion has been a serious problem in the black soil region of northeastern China. This paper seeks to understand the relationships between topsoil properties and topography and land use for land management targeting at improving soil quality in this region. A total of 292 soil samples and 81 volumetric rings were taken from a typical small watershed of the region in June 2005 for examining total carbon (TC), total nitrogen (TN), soil texture (classified into gravel, sand, silt, and clay), and bulk density (ρ _b), respectively. Spatial variability of these soil properties was evaluated with classical statistics and geostatistics methods. The results of classical statistics indicated that TC, TN, sand, silt, clay content, and ρ _b were moderate variables while gravel had great variability. Soil properties were mainly correlated to slope position, elevation and land types. Geostatistical analyses showed that the spatial autocorrelation for TC, TN, and silt was weak, strong for clay and moderate for and ρ _b sand, respectively. The spatial variations of soil properties are affected comprehensively by topographic factors, land use, erosion, and erosion control in this watershed. Past erosion, however, is the most important component to induce change of soil properties. In this small watershed, current soil and water conservation measures play an important role in controlling soil loss. But the restoration of soil properties was unsatisfactory. Comparing with untilled soil of this region, TC, TN, silt content are excessively low; whereas ρ _b, sand and clay content are excessively high; gravel appears at most sampling locations. It is necessary for improving soil properties to protect forest and grassland and change cultivation system of farmlands.