Land Degradation & Development最新文献

{"title":"Field Evaluation of Wood Biochar for Promoted Growth and Carbon Assimilation of Cyclobalanopsis edithiae in Quarry Site","authors":"Yu Chen Wang, Charles Wang Wai Ng, Ekaterina Kravchenko, Jia Xin Liao, Wen Hui Yan, Billy Chi Hang Hau","doi":"10.1002/ldr.70161","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.70161","url":null,"abstract":"Anthropogenic activities, such as quarrying, result in soil degradation and loss of soil ecological functions. To promote plant growth and improve soil quality, this study evaluated the in situ application of wood biochar in a soil–plant system at a quarry site in Hong Kong. The morphological and physiological characteristics of the plants (<jats:italic>C. edithiae</jats:italic>), as well as carbon assimilation under biochar treatment, were investigated. Biochar derived from wood feedstock was selected and applied at a dosage of 5% by mass over a 2‐year period. The study observed that biochar had a significant (<jats:italic>p</jats:italic> &lt; 0.05) positive effect on the leaf area, the diameter of the stem and root of <jats:italic>C. edithiae</jats:italic> at the field site. Additionally, biochar significantly increased the dry biomass of the leaf, stem, and root by 225% (<jats:italic>p</jats:italic> &lt; 0.01), 170% (<jats:italic>p</jats:italic> &lt; 0.05) and 189% (<jats:italic>p</jats:italic> &lt; 0.05), respectively. This contributed to an increase in the amount of carbon assimilated per plant seedling, rising from 56 to 159 g. The plant carbon assimilation capacity demonstrated positive relationships with plant growth and development characteristics, whereas root tensile strength was negatively correlated with them. Moreover, the biochar‐treated group exhibited a 61% higher CO<jats:sub>2</jats:sub> flux at the soil surface, while CH<jats:sub>4</jats:sub> flux showed no significant changes compared to the non‐biochar‐treated group. This study highlighted the potential of wood biochar as an effective soil amendment for enhancing plant growth and carbon assimilation in degraded quarry sites, providing valuable insights for ecological restoration efforts.","PeriodicalId":203,"journal":{"name":"Land Degradation & Development","volume":"41 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144898471","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Tilting‐Tracking Photovoltaic Systems Mitigate Soil Degradation Risks While Maintain Native Vegetation Productivity Across All Reshaped Micro‐Zones in a Desert Steppe","authors":"Fei Huang, Bo Wang, Yan Yang, Dongya Liu, Yu Li, Yulei Ma, Yingge Xie, Gao‐Lin Wu, Zhigang Li","doi":"10.1002/ldr.70154","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.70154","url":null,"abstract":"Unlike fixed photovoltaic systems, which can only form one ground rainwater accumulation micro‐zone, the tilting‐tracking photovoltaic systems (TT‐PVS) can create two rainwater accumulation micro‐zones (west and east edges). However, the impacts of TT‐PVS on ecological restoration in arid areas remain poorly understood. This study assessed TT‐PVS impacts on soil quality and plant growth in a desert steppe. Soil quality indices (SQIs) were quantified by analyzing soil enzyme activities and physicochemical properties across micro‐zones (Beneath panel, West edge, East edge, and Between panels) reshaped by TT‐PVS and a Control without PV system installed in a desert steppe, alongside correspondingly determined plant growth (above‐ground biomass, below‐ground biomass, height, and coverage). Results showed that TT‐PVS increased soil moisture and reduced soil temperature of four reshaped positions compared to control, with the highest soil moistures at West and East edges. Soil enzyme activity, physicochemical properties, and the final SQIs were also higher in the TT‐PVS micro‐zones than those of control, but their change patterns differed from soil moisture. Nevertheless, structural equation models revealed that soil moisture indirectly affects the SQI by regulating soil enzyme activities and chemical properties. Eventually, the improvement of SQI significantly promoted plant growth, but soil moisture exhibited no direct impact on plant growth. Therefore, due to the turbulent environment caused by raindrops, positions East and West edges with higher soil moisture cannot effectively promote plant growth. Whatever, unlike fixed photovoltaic systems, TT‐PVS distributed precipitation more evenly, mitigating soil degradation risks while maintaining vegetation productivity in all micro‐zones in desert steppes.","PeriodicalId":203,"journal":{"name":"Land Degradation & Development","volume":"97 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144898481","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Application of the Process‐Oriented and Machine Learning Combined Model in Mapping of Soil Organic Carbon of Non‐Waterlogged Mineral Soils at National Scale","authors":"Keqiang Wang, Zipeng Zhang, Jianli Ding, Liangyi Li, Jinhua Cao, Zhiran Zhou, Xiangyu Ge, Chaolei Yang, Jingzhe Wang","doi":"10.1002/ldr.70150","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.70150","url":null,"abstract":"Integrating process‐oriented (PO) and machine learning (ML) models is effective for obtaining dynamic spatial information on soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks. However, PO‐ML integration, particularly at large scales, has received insufficient attention. This gap limits our understanding of and predictive capabilities regarding SOC dynamics. To explore the adaptability and effectiveness of PO‐ML integration on a large scale, we constructed a national‐scale PO‐ML hybrid model. Due to the uncertainty in estimating natural land cover types, we used the PO model to expand the time series of nationwide non‐waterlogged mineral soil natural land cover SOC density data (excluding wetland and croplands) for the period 2000–2014 to enhance the ML model training data and predict the spatial distribution of the average SOC content during this period. The results indicated that the ML model's accuracy (<jats:italic>R</jats:italic><jats:sup>2</jats:sup> = 0.57) aligned with the average level reported by other digital soil mapping (DSM) studies, whereas the accuracy of the PO‐ML hybrid model was approximately 17% above the highest accuracy reported in other DSM studies. This improvement highlights the advancement our research contributes to the field. Furthermore, the study demonstrates the important role of dynamic environmental covariates in predicting SOC density by showing that they significantly enhanced the model's ability to capture the spatiotemporal dynamics of SOC. Moreover, in the absence of Rothamsted carbon model simulation data, the ML model exhibited higher uncertainty in the sample‐scarce western regions and around the latitudes of 30° N–40° N, whereas the PO‐ML model effectively reduced this uncertainty. These findings indicate that the hybrid model strategy offers significant advantages in SOC simulation and provides important insights into the nationwide spatiotemporal distribution of SOC in non‐waterlogged mineral soils' natural land cover.","PeriodicalId":203,"journal":{"name":"Land Degradation & Development","volume":"19 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144898480","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Soil Multifunctionality Was Determined by Land Cover and Soil‐Microbiological Properties in the Karst Region","authors":"Xiaoxiao Zou, Kai Yao, Zhaoxia Zeng, Fuping Zeng, Lihong Lu, Zi Yu, Hao Zhang","doi":"10.1002/ldr.70155","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.70155","url":null,"abstract":"Under the background of the large‐scale Grain for Green Project (GGP) in southwest China, studies have primarily examined the impacts of vegetation restoration on individual soil functions. However, there is a pressing need to intensify research on soil multifunctionality (SMF). By using random forest and structural equation model, this research examined the variation of SMF across three land cover (LC) types, using karst converted crop to forest and grassland, and explored the relationship between SMF and factors such as LC, soil properties, diversity, and the complexity of the co‐occurrence network of microbiology. The nutrient supply, labile organic matter (LOM) decomposition, SMF in grassland soil, and LOM decomposition in plantation soil were significantly higher than those in crop, by 21.66%, 88.35%, and 41.92%, respectively. Conversely, the nutrient supply and SMF in plantation soil were significantly smaller than those in crop. Fungal richness, phylogenetic diversity, and complexity of the microbial co‐occurrence network in grassland and plantation soil were significantly higher than those in crop. Random plantation model analysis indicated that LC, soil moisture (SM), soil pH, and bacterial network complexity (BNC) were the main influencing factors of SMF. The structural equation model demonstrated that SM and soil pH significantly affected BNC, thereby influencing SMF. These findings suggested that SMF was determined by LC and soil‐microbiological properties in the karst region. Furthermore, soil BNC influenced SMF by regulating microbial interspecies relationships (symbiotic). These insights may contribute to understanding the impact mechanism of reforestation and grassland on SMF in karst areas from a soil microorganism perspective.","PeriodicalId":203,"journal":{"name":"Land Degradation & Development","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144898479","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Community Beta Diversity as a Catalyst: Mediating Livestock Grazing Effects on Ecosystem Multifunctionality in the Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau","authors":"Jie Liu, Xiaofang Wang, Haitao Miao, Yunfeng Yang","doi":"10.1002/ldr.70146","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.70146","url":null,"abstract":"The Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau, often referred to as the “Third Pole,” is predominantly used for livestock grazing, a key land use in the region. Understanding the relationship between species diversity—specifically α‐ and β‐diversity—and ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF) is essential for agroecosystem management. This study investigates the effects of varying grazing intensities (no, low, medium, and heavy) and durations on EMF, and explores the association between EMF and species diversity in alpine meadows of the Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau. EMF was evaluated using multiple metrics: community density, coverage, aboveground net primary productivity, plant height, soil total nitrogen, total phosphorus, soil organic matter, pH, soil nitrite nitrogen, soil nitrate, soil ammonia, microbial biomass nitrogen, and microbial biomass carbon. Our results indicate that no‐, low‐, and medium‐grazing intensities do not significantly impact plant community density, coverage, β‐diversity, or EMF. However, heavy‐grazing significantly reduces these parameters. We found a positive correlation between EMF and both plant richness (the number of species representing α‐diversity) and β‐diversity (the average dissimilarity between a plant community and others). Structural equation modeling revealed that grazing intensity directly and significantly affects total EMF and aboveground EMF. Notably, β‐diversity, rather than α‐diversity, exhibited a strong positive influence on total, aboveground, and belowground EMF. Our findings highlight the crucial role of plant β‐diversity in shaping EMF, providing a valuable basis for developing effective agroecosystem management strategies.","PeriodicalId":203,"journal":{"name":"Land Degradation & Development","volume":"50 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144898554","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Optimization of Ecological Security Pattern in a Mining City: Multi‐Scenario Comparison of Ecological Restoration","authors":"Danfei Zhong, Jian Peng, Dongmei Xu, Hui Tang, Hong Jiang, Tao Hu, Yanmin Yang, Jiansheng Wu","doi":"10.1002/ldr.70135","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.70135","url":null,"abstract":"During the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, the rapid emergence of the post‐mining era has enhanced the urgency of ecological restoration in mining areas, making it a critical global priority. Ecological security pattern (ESP), a cost‐effective approach for ecological restoration, has seen limited comparative studies on multi‐scenario ecological restoration strategies across its optimization. To fill this gap, Datong, a typical mineral resource‐intensive city in China, was selected as the study area for conducting multi‐scenario ecological restoration simulations. Based on ESP construction and optimization, we adopted four scenarios: large‐area, high‐density, near‐source, and near‐corridor priority scenarios for restoring the mining areas, and compared the restoration effects by examining landscape components, ecosystem services, and landscape connectivity to identify the most cost‐effective strategy. The results demonstrated that the ESP consisted of 43 ecological sources and 41 ecological corridors, with a total area of 4,663.04 km<jats:sup>2</jats:sup> in total, accounting for 33.09% of the study area. Notably, 44.25% of the mining areas existed within the ESP 100 m buffer zone, posing a serious threat to regional ecological security. Among these scenarios, the near‐source priority scenario was the optimal restoration scenario, demonstrating superior results in decreasing ESP fragmentation (15.29%), enhancing ecosystem services (232.40%), and improving landscape connectivity (79.22%). This study presents a multi‐scenario ESP optimization approach for ecological restoration in mining areas, which supports the assurance of ecological security and sustainable development in mineral resource‐intensive cities.","PeriodicalId":203,"journal":{"name":"Land Degradation & Development","volume":"25 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144898548","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Diversified Cropping Systems for Improving the Crop Productivity and Soil Health of Dryland Ecosystem","authors":"Sanju Choudhary, Sudhir Kumar Rajpoot, Ambikesh Tripathi, Manju Choudhary, Lakey Radha, Mrinal Sen","doi":"10.1002/ldr.70140","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.70140","url":null,"abstract":"The rapidly growing global population, projected to increase by 50% by 2050, coupled with climate change, necessitates a sustainable transformation of agricultural systems to ensure food security. In dryland ecosystems, it shows an aridity index of &lt; 0.65, supports extensive livestock grazing and sustains ~38% of the global population, including rapidly growing regions. Despite arid conditions, they host ~35% of global biodiversity, featuring uniquely adapted species. Drylands also play a crucial role in the global economy, providing food, medicinal plants, and essential ecosystem services like climate and erosion regulation. While India has achieved self‐sufficiency in food grain production, the challenges of food security and sustainable development are particularly acute in dryland areas, where harsh climatic conditions, water scarcity, and degraded soils significantly hinder agricultural productivity. This review explores crop diversification as a sustainable strategy to address these challenges, highlighting its potential to improve soil health and increase crop productivity. Crop diversification is an attempt to include temporal and spatial alternation in cropping systems to enhance productivity, sustainability, and maintain the ecological balance. It is recognized as one of the most feasible, cost‐effective, and rational ways of developing the resilience of crop productivity to the changing climate. Diversified cropping systems include practices such as crop rotation and intercropping with cover crops, such as legumes, grasses, and brassicas, which are planted during fallow periods to protect the soil from erosion, improve soil structure, fix atmospheric nitrogen, and also enhance soil microbial activity, which is essential for nutrient cycling and overall soil health. Despite its benefits, several constraints hinder the widespread adoption of crop diversification, including inadequate infrastructure, lack of knowledge and training, and the dominance of monoculture systems. This review underscores the need for systematic research and supportive policies to promote diversified cropping systems, particularly in dryland regions, to achieve sustainable agricultural productivity and food security.","PeriodicalId":203,"journal":{"name":"Land Degradation & Development","volume":"14 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144898553","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Soil Carbon and Nutrient Losses From Farmland Wind Erosion and Required Fertilizer Compensation in the North China Plain","authors":"Shuxin Ren, Haopeng Zhang, Feng Wang, Tianning Zhang, Dong Wang, Zhigang Han, Hongquan Song","doi":"10.1002/ldr.70139","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.70139","url":null,"abstract":"Farmland wind erosion causes significant losses of soil organic carbon (SOC) and essential nutrients, reducing soil fertility, diminishing crop yields, and causing long‐term environmental degradation. Unclear relationships between nutrient losses and fertilizer compensation hinder effective soil conservation strategies. Here, we quantified the losses of SOC, nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) using the parameterized Wind Erosion Prediction System (WEPS) model for the North China Plain (NCP). Model validation showed a strong correlation between simulated and observed dust fluxes (<jats:italic>R</jats:italic> = 0.80, RMSE = 0.98 g m<jats:sup>−2</jats:sup> 30s<jats:sup>−1</jats:sup>, <jats:italic>p</jats:italic> &lt; 0.001), confirming its reliability in the NCP. Results indicated that approximately 0.162 t km<jats:sup>−2</jats:sup> of SOC, 0.018 t km<jats:sup>−2</jats:sup> of N, and 0.015 t km<jats:sup>−2</jats:sup> of P were lost annually, threatening soil fertility and productivity. Compensating these losses solely with fertilizers would require 0.038 t km<jats:sup>−2</jats:sup> of urea and 0.212 t km<jats:sup>−2</jats:sup> of superphosphate each year. These findings provide critical insights for policymakers and farmers in implementing sustainable land management strategies to mitigate soil degradation.","PeriodicalId":203,"journal":{"name":"Land Degradation & Development","volume":"53 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144898557","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Molecular Composition of Soil Organic Matter Fractions Under Long‐Term Post‐Agricultural Restoration Across a Large Climate Gradient","authors":"Fanbo Song, Qiang Li, Ning Hu, Yilai Lou, Huimin Zhang, Ping Zhu, Dongchu Li, Hongjun Gao, Shuiqing Zhang, Shufeng Chen, Yidong Wang","doi":"10.1002/ldr.70147","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.70147","url":null,"abstract":"Long‐term post‐agricultural natural restoration generally rebuilds the pool of soil organic matter (SOM); however, it is not clear about the shifts in molecular composition within SOM physical fractions across a large climate gradient. We investigated this question in three zonal soils: Ferralic Cambisol (subtropic), Calcaric Cambisol (warm temperate), and Luvic Phaeozem (mid‐temperate) under 27‐year post‐agricultural restoration. Pyrolysis‐gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py‐GC/MS) is a useful method for analyzing SOM molecular composition. In this research, molecular features of coarse particulate organic matter (cPOM), fine particulate organic matter (fPOM), and mineral‐associated organic matter (MAOM) were measured by Py‐GC/MS. Among the three zonal soils, SOM molecular compositions varied greatly. The Luvic Phaeozem contained a greater relative abundance of N‐bearing compounds, while the Calcaric Cambisol had a greater relative abundance of aliphatics. Within the Luvic Phaeozem and Ferralic Cambisol with higher clay contents, physical size class, not post‐agricultural restoration, primarily shifted the molecular feature of SOM, with more lignin derivatives and aromatics in the POM, while enrichment of N‐bearing compounds in the MAOM. In contrast, both physical size class and post‐agricultural restoration had limited influences on SOM molecular composition in the Calcaric Cambisol with lower clay content. In conclusion, the molecular composition of bulk SOM was dependent on soil types across the climate gradient, but not on post‐agricultural restoration. Physical size class greatly shifted the molecular feature of SOM (especially for N‐bearing compounds) in soils with high clay contents, but not for the soil with low clay contents.","PeriodicalId":203,"journal":{"name":"Land Degradation & Development","volume":"191 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144898556","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Vegetation Restoration Reduces the Capacity of Autotrophic Microbes to Fix CO2 in Eroded Areas","authors":"Xiaopeng Wang, Man Zhou, Yan Wang, Yanhe Huang, Jinshi Lin, Yungen Liu","doi":"10.1002/ldr.70062","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.70062","url":null,"abstract":"Autotrophic microorganisms directly increase the soil organic carbon pool through CO<jats:sub>2</jats:sub> fixation. However, their carbon fixation capacities during the restoration of vegetation in degraded soils are not well characterized. To address this issue, we selected three vegetation restoration approaches (small hole seeding grass management, contour grass and shrub belt management, and mixed grass–shrub–tree management) in a severely eroded region of China and compared them with an untreated control site. We conducted <jats:sup>13</jats:sup>C‐labeling experiments to assess how vegetation restoration influences autotrophic microbial communities and how their CO<jats:sub>2</jats:sub> fixation contributes to soil carbon sequestration. Compared with the soil erosion area, the vegetation‐restored sites presented greater soil nutrients and greater diversity of autotrophic microorganisms. The average Chao1 and Shannon indices of the three vegetation restoration plots increased by 2.81 times and 38.10%, respectively, compared with those of the control plots. Vegetation restoration shifted the autotrophic microbial community from being dominated by obligate autotrophs to being dominated by facultative autotrophs. An increase in autotrophic microbial diversity and a decrease in Rhodovastum diversity led to a reduction in the microbial carbon fixation rate. Compared with that in the CK plots, the average carbon fixation rate in the vegetation restoration plots decreased by 77.43%. However, readily oxidizable organic carbon (82.60%, <jats:italic>p</jats:italic> = 0.000), rather than biological characteristics, was identified as the dominant factor controlling the microbial carbon fixation rate.","PeriodicalId":203,"journal":{"name":"Land Degradation & Development","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144898555","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}