IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i21p9161-d439723.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effects of Different Ages of Robinia pseudoacacia Plantations on Soil Physiochemical Properties and Microbial Communities

Author

Listed:
  • Chaoyi Luo

    (State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Yangling 712100, China
    College of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
    C.L. and B.Z. contributed equally to this work.)

  • Bingxue Zhang

    (State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Yangling 712100, China
    College of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
    C.L. and B.Z. contributed equally to this work.)

  • Jiang Liu

    (State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Yangling 712100, China)

  • Xiaoxia Wang

    (State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Yangling 712100, China)

  • Fengpeng Han

    (State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Yangling 712100, China
    College of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China)

  • Jihai Zhou

    (State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Yangling 712100, China
    School of Ecology and Environment, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu 241002, China)

Abstract

Robinia pseudoacacia is widely planted on the Loess Plateau as a strong drought-tolerant and salt-tolerant species for vegetation restoration. However, this mode of pure plantation has triggered great concern over the soil ecosystem. The aim of this study was to explore the effects of the plantation on soil physiochemical properties, soil microorganisms, and the relationship between them in Robinia pseudoacacia plantations of different ages. Four different ages of Robinia pseudoacacia stands, including 10-year-old, 15-year-old, 25-year-old, and 40-year-old (abbreviated as Y10, Y15, Y25, and Y40, respectively) were selected, and 20 soil physicochemical and biological indicators were determined. The variation in soil microbial biomass was influenced by sampling depth, and consistent with the variations in TN (soil total nitrogen) and SOC (soil organic carbon) during 25 years’ artificial forestation. Soil moisture increased significantly at Y15 and then decreased at Y40 but other soil properties remained relatively stable. The contents of phosphor lipid fatty acid (PLFA) of different microbial groups followed the order of B (Bacteria) > G − (Gram-negative) > G + (Gram-positive) > A (Actinomycetes) > F (Fungi). The ratios of F/B (Fungi to Bacteria) and Sat/Mono (Saturated PLFAs to Monosaturated PLFAs) of different ages of plantations showed a similar trend, i.e., declined first, then rose, and declined again. The ratios of Cy/Pre (Cyclopropyl PLFAs to Precursor PLFAs) and G + /G − (Gram-positive to Gram-negative) of the soil of all ages of plantations showed a trend of slow growth and a trend of rapid growth, respectively. Redundancy analysis showed that the contents of individual PLFAs and total PLFA were positively correlated with SOC and TN, but variations of soil PLFA ratios mostly depended on other soil properties. After artificial forestation, the ratios of F/B and Sat/Mono were lower than before forestation, while the ratio of Cy/Pre varied with different soil layers. The ratio of G + /G − increased with the increase in afforestation time, peaking at the 25th year. The contents of individual PLFAs and total PLFA may be sensitive indicators of SOC and TN within 25 years’ plantation. Lower ratio of F/B and higher G + /G − suggest that the sustainability of the ecosystem is weaker and the fertility of the soil is lower after plantation of Robinia pseudoacacia .

Suggested Citation

  • Chaoyi Luo & Bingxue Zhang & Jiang Liu & Xiaoxia Wang & Fengpeng Han & Jihai Zhou, 2020. "Effects of Different Ages of Robinia pseudoacacia Plantations on Soil Physiochemical Properties and Microbial Communities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-18, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:21:p:9161-:d:439723
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/21/9161/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/21/9161/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Buzhdygan, Oksana Y. & Rudenko, Svitlana S. & Kazanci, Caner & Patten, Bernard C., 2016. "Effect of invasive black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) on nitrogen cycle in floodplain ecosystem," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 319(C), pages 170-177.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mariam El Hourani & Gabriele Broll, 2021. "Soil Protection in Floodplains—A Review," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-23, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:21:p:9161-:d:439723. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.