Canopy density affects nutrient limitation and soil quality index in a secondary forest, in China

IF 3.9 2区农林科学 Q1 AGRONOMY

Plant and Soil Pub Date : 2025-04-24 DOI:10.1007/s11104-025-07429-z

Wenju Chen, Xin Zhang, Yanqiu Wang, Junzhe Wang, Yuchao Zhi, Runqin Wu, Dexiang Wang

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Aims

Forest canopy density can change the soil function and quality by altering the understory microenvironment. A comprehensive assessment of soil quality is essential for the development of sustainable forest management practices.

Methods

In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effects of different canopy densities including forest gap (FG), forest edge (FE), medium-canopy density 0.4–0.6 (MCD), and high-canopy density 0.7–0.9 (HCD) on soil properties and soil quality index (SQI), and further to determine the main indicators that influence soil quality. The SQI was calculated using principal component analysis (PCA) and minimum data set (MDS) for indicator selection and weight assignment.

Results

Our results showed that pH decreased significantly with increasing canopy density (P < 0.05). In addition, soil organic carbon (SOC) and total phosphorus (TP) were significantly improved, and soil microbial phosphorus limitation gradually changed to nitrogen limitation with increasing canopy density. The SQI values ranged from 0.37 to 0.62, with the highest value in MCD. The MDS including leucine aminopeptidase (LAP; weight 0.27), soil available potassium (AK; weight 0.25), soil total nitrogen (TN; weight 0.23), and soil available phosphorus (SAP; weight 0.26) accounted for 80.79% of the variation in soil quality index.

Conclusion

Overall, the findings collectively indicated that medium canopy density (MCD) was beneficial for maintaining SQI. This study provides guidance for the sustainable management of a secondary forest.

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林冠密度对次生林养分限制和土壤质量指标的影响

目的森林冠层密度可以通过改变林下微环境来改变土壤的功能和质量。全面评估土壤质量对于制定可持续森林管理做法至关重要。方法本研究旨在评价林隙（FG）、林缘（FE）、中冠层密度0.4 ~ 0.6 （MCD）和高冠层密度0.7 ~ 0.9 （HCD）不同冠层密度对土壤性质和土壤质量指数（SQI）的影响，并进一步确定影响土壤质量的主要指标。SQI采用主成分分析（PCA）和最小数据集（MDS）进行指标选择和权重分配。结果pH值随冠层密度的增加而显著降低（P < 0.05）。此外，随着冠层密度的增加，土壤有机碳（SOC）和全磷（TP）显著提高，土壤微生物限磷逐渐向限氮转变。SQI值在0.37 ~ 0.62之间，以MCD最高。MDS包括亮氨酸氨基肽酶（LAP）；重量0.27)，土壤速效钾(AK；重0.25)，土壤全氮(TN；土壤有效磷(SAP；权重0.26)占土壤质量指数变异的80.79%。结论中等冠层密度（MCD）有利于SQI的维持。本研究为次生林的可持续经营提供了指导。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Plant and Soil 农林科学-农艺学

CiteScore

8.20

自引率

8.20%

发文量

543

审稿时长

2.5 months

期刊介绍： Plant and Soil publishes original papers and review articles exploring the interface of plant biology and soil sciences, and that enhance our mechanistic understanding of plant-soil interactions. We focus on the interface of plant biology and soil sciences, and seek those manuscripts with a strong mechanistic component which develop and test hypotheses aimed at understanding underlying mechanisms of plant-soil interactions. Manuscripts can include both fundamental and applied aspects of mineral nutrition, plant water relations, symbiotic and pathogenic plant-microbe interactions, root anatomy and morphology, soil biology, ecology, agrochemistry and agrophysics, as long as they are hypothesis-driven and enhance our mechanistic understanding. Articles including a major molecular or modelling component also fall within the scope of the journal. All contributions appear in the English language, with consistent spelling, using either American or British English.