Pedosphere 16(3): 319--325, 2006
ISSN 1002-0160/CN 32-1315/P
©2006 Soil Science Society of China
Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science Press
| A leguminous shrub (caragana microphylla) in semiarid sandy soils of north China |
ZHANG Tong-Hui , SU Yong-Zhong, CUI Jian-Yuan, ZHANG Zhi-Hui and CHANG Xue-Xiang |
| Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000 (China). E-mail: zhanqth@ns.lzb.ac.cn |
| ABSTRACT |
| Caragana microphylla Lam., a pioneer leguminous shrub species for vegetation re-establishment, is widely distributed in the semi-fixed and fixed sandy lands of the Horqin region. Some soil chemical and physical properties were measured under the canopy of C. microphylla and in the adjacent open areas to determine the effects of individual shrubs on soil properties. The influence of isolated C. microphylla on chemical and physical properties of the topsoil was significantly different between plots under the shrub canopy and in the shrub interspaces. Beneath the shrub canopy greater amounts of fine particle fractions, a higher water-holding capacity, and a lower bulk density, as well as higher aboveground and belowground litter biomass were found. Soil organic C and total N concentrations were 23%-31.6% and 14%-27.2% higher under the shrub canopies than in the shrub interspaces, respectively, giving rise to "islands of fertility". In a desertified sandy grassland ecosystem, C. microphylla was believed to play a major role in organic C sequestration, N accumulation, and the hydrologic cycle. Additionally, it has been found to be of ecological importance for vegetative restoration and reversal of desertification. |
| Key Words: Caragana microphylla Lam., degraded sandy grassland, soil chemical properties, soil physical properties |
| Citation: Zhang, T. H., Su, Y. Z., Cui, J. Y., Zhang, Z. H. and Chang, X. X. 2006. A leguminous shrub (caragana microphylla) in semiarid sandy soils of north China. Pedosphere. 16(3): 319-325. |
| |
|
View Full Text
|
|
|
|
