Investigating the compensatory effect of legume reseeding on soil organic carbon loss under tillage management in a saline-alkali grassland in the semi-arid region

IF 3.9 2区环境科学与生态学 Q1 ECOLOGY

Ecological Engineering Pub Date : 2024-11-08 DOI:10.1016/j.ecoleng.2024.107441

Yang Gao , Yuqi Zhang , Jian Liu , Yu An , Hongyuan Ma , Shouzheng Tong

{"title":"Investigating the compensatory effect of legume reseeding on soil organic carbon loss under tillage management in a saline-alkali grassland in the semi-arid region","authors":"Yang Gao , Yuqi Zhang , Jian Liu , Yu An , Hongyuan Ma , Shouzheng Tong","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2024.107441","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Tillage and reseeding are recognized as effective near-natural restoration practices for degraded grasslands. Despite of ecological restoration efforts of these practices on degraded saline-alkali grasslands in the semi-arid Songnen Plain, the focus on soil functions, particularly carbon (C) accumulation, remains inadequate. This study implemented four restoration measures—tillage (T), tillage combined with <em>Astragalus adsurgens</em> reseeding (TR), no-tillage and reseeding (NR), and no-tillage (N)—on degraded saline-alkali grasslands in 2017. We investigated changes in plant community characteristics and species diversity, soil physical and chemical properties, and soil organic carbon (SOC) pool in 2019 (third-year post-restoration) and 2022 (sixth-year post-restoration). The results indicate that TR had the highest coverage, above-ground biomass (AGB), and below-ground biomass (BGB) in both surveys. From 2019 to 2022, NR exhibited the most pronounced increase in coverage, whereas AGB and BGB of TR achieved the largest increment. In terms of soil properties, the TR and T treatments decreased soil total nitrogen (SN) content and soil bulk density (SBD), and the TR and NR treatments decreased pH and EC. Although SOC content and storage (TSOC) values were lower in T and TR treatments in 2019, a compensation effect with highest C accumulation rate in TR was observed in 2022. Regression analysis showed significant positive correlations between TSOC and plant community height, coverage, AGB, species richness, and SN and soil phosphorus (SP) content. Structural equation models (SEMs) further indicated that tillage practices negatively impacted TSOC. In contrast, legume reseeding, through adjustments in plant density, positively impacted TSOC, with SWC playing a pivotal role. This study quantifies the impact of tillage combined with reseeding on SOC sequestration and provides critical scientific evidence for managing the natural-based restored grasslands in semi-arid regions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11490,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Engineering","volume":"210 ","pages":"Article 107441"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9000,"publicationDate":"2024-11-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Ecological Engineering","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925857424002660","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ECOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Tillage and reseeding are recognized as effective near-natural restoration practices for degraded grasslands. Despite of ecological restoration efforts of these practices on degraded saline-alkali grasslands in the semi-arid Songnen Plain, the focus on soil functions, particularly carbon (C) accumulation, remains inadequate. This study implemented four restoration measures—tillage (T), tillage combined with Astragalus adsurgens reseeding (TR), no-tillage and reseeding (NR), and no-tillage (N)—on degraded saline-alkali grasslands in 2017. We investigated changes in plant community characteristics and species diversity, soil physical and chemical properties, and soil organic carbon (SOC) pool in 2019 (third-year post-restoration) and 2022 (sixth-year post-restoration). The results indicate that TR had the highest coverage, above-ground biomass (AGB), and below-ground biomass (BGB) in both surveys. From 2019 to 2022, NR exhibited the most pronounced increase in coverage, whereas AGB and BGB of TR achieved the largest increment. In terms of soil properties, the TR and T treatments decreased soil total nitrogen (SN) content and soil bulk density (SBD), and the TR and NR treatments decreased pH and EC. Although SOC content and storage (TSOC) values were lower in T and TR treatments in 2019, a compensation effect with highest C accumulation rate in TR was observed in 2022. Regression analysis showed significant positive correlations between TSOC and plant community height, coverage, AGB, species richness, and SN and soil phosphorus (SP) content. Structural equation models (SEMs) further indicated that tillage practices negatively impacted TSOC. In contrast, legume reseeding, through adjustments in plant density, positively impacted TSOC, with SWC playing a pivotal role. This study quantifies the impact of tillage combined with reseeding on SOC sequestration and provides critical scientific evidence for managing the natural-based restored grasslands in semi-arid regions.

查看原文本刊更多论文

研究半干旱地区盐碱地草地耕作管理下豆科植物复播对土壤有机碳流失的补偿效应

耕作和重播被认为是退化草地近乎自然的有效恢复方法。尽管这些方法在半干旱的松嫩平原退化的盐碱草地上开展了生态恢复工作，但对土壤功能，尤其是碳（C）积累的关注仍然不足。本研究于2017年在退化的盐碱草地上实施了四种恢复措施--翻耕（T）、翻耕结合黄芪重播（TR）、免耕和重播（NR）以及免耕（N）。我们调查了 2019 年（恢复后第三年）和 2022 年（恢复后第六年）植物群落特征和物种多样性、土壤理化性质以及土壤有机碳库的变化。结果表明，在两次调查中，TR 的覆盖率、地上生物量（AGB）和地下生物量（BGB）最高。从 2019 年到 2022 年，NR 的覆盖率增长最为明显，而 TR 的 AGB 和 BGB 增长幅度最大。在土壤性质方面，TR 和 T 处理降低了土壤全氮（SN）含量和土壤容重（SBD），TR 和 NR 处理降低了 pH 值和 EC 值。虽然2019年T和TR处理的SOC含量和储存量（TSOC）值较低，但2022年观察到了补偿效应，TR的C积累率最高。回归分析表明，TSOC 与植物群落高度、覆盖率、AGB、物种丰富度、SN 和土壤磷（SP）含量之间存在明显的正相关关系。结构方程模型（SEM）进一步表明，耕作方法对 TSOC 有负面影响。与此相反，通过调整植物密度进行的豆科植物重播则对 TSOC 产生了积极影响，其中 SWC 起到了关键作用。这项研究量化了耕作结合补播对 SOC 固碳的影响，为半干旱地区以自然为基础的恢复性草地的管理提供了重要的科学依据。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Ecological Engineering 环境科学-工程：环境

CiteScore

8.00

自引率

5.30%

发文量

293

审稿时长

57 days

期刊介绍： Ecological engineering has been defined as the design of ecosystems for the mutual benefit of humans and nature. The journal is meant for ecologists who, because of their research interests or occupation, are involved in designing, monitoring, or restoring ecosystems, and can serve as a bridge between ecologists and engineers. Specific topics covered in the journal include: habitat reconstruction; ecotechnology; synthetic ecology; bioengineering; restoration ecology; ecology conservation; ecosystem rehabilitation; stream and river restoration; reclamation ecology; non-renewable resource conservation. Descriptions of specific applications of ecological engineering are acceptable only when situated within context of adding novelty to current research and emphasizing ecosystem restoration. We do not accept purely descriptive reports on ecosystem structures (such as vegetation surveys), purely physical assessment of materials that can be used for ecological restoration, small-model studies carried out in the laboratory or greenhouse with artificial (waste)water or crop studies, or case studies on conventional wastewater treatment and eutrophication that do not offer an ecosystem restoration approach within the paper.