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- Title
Responses of soil aggregate stability to carbon and nitrogen under precipitation gradients in a desert steppe.
- Authors
Cui, Yuanyuan; Hou, Dongjie; Wang, Zhongwu; Wang, Jing; Qu, Zhiqiang; Wang, Yunbo; Han, Guodong; Li, Zhiguo; Ren, Haiyan; Wang, Haiming
- Abstract
Purpose: Soil aggregates regulate soil water and temperature, soil fertilizer, and leaf gas exchange. In desert steppes, precipitation restricts the growth and development of plants, and it affects the availability of soil carbon and nitrogen, thereby influencing soil aggregate stability. However, studies on precipitation influence on the stability of aggregates are limited. Materials and methods: Here, we conducted a 2-year field experiment in a desert steppe of Siziwang Banner, Inner Mongolia, to test the effect of a changing precipitation gradient "reducing precipitation by 50% (W-50%), natural precipitation (W), increasing precipitation by 50% (W+50%), and increasing precipitation by 100% (W+100%)" on the depth distribution, stability of soil aggregates and aggregate-associated organic carbon content (OC), and total nitrogen (TN) contents. We used a wet sieving method yielding silt and clay (SCA, < 0.053 mm), microaggregates (MIA, 0.053–0.25 mm), small macroaggregates (SMA, 0.25–2 mm), and large macroaggregates (LMA, > 2 mm). Results and discussion: Our results indicated that the topsoil (0–30 cm) was dominated by SCA and MIA. Increasing precipitation increased soil aggregate stability and reduced soil erodibility by increasing water-stable aggregates (WSA, > 0.25 mm). In this study, the comprehensive soil aggregate stability score was the highest at W+100%. Although LMA serve as the main carriers of SOC and TN, MIA-associated OC and TN had the highest contribution rate to SOC and TN. This study revealed that bulk soil properties including MBN, BD, MBC, and pH significantly influenced aggregate stability. Additionally, WSA-associated OC were found to be the most crucial contributors to soil aggregate stability. Conclusions: Overall, our study indicates that increasing precipitation is beneficial to WSA accumulation and highlighted the vital role of microbial biomass and WSA-associated OC on maintaining soil aggregate stability under precipitation change.
- Subjects
INNER Mongolia (China); SOIL structure; STEPPES; SOIL temperature; SOIL moisture; DESERTS; SHAPE memory alloys
- Publication
Journal of Soils & Sediments: Protection, Risk Assessment, & Remediation, 2024, Vol 24, Issue 3, p1071
- ISSN
1439-0108
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s11368-023-03708-3