Journal article

Mechanisms behind soil N dynamics following cover restoration in degraded land in subtropical China

Xiangzhou Zheng, Cheng Lin, Baoling Guo, Juhua Yu, Hong Ding, Shaoyun Peng, Jinbo Zhang, Eric Ireland, Deli Chen, Christoph Mueller, Yushu Zhang

JOURNAL OF SOILS AND SEDIMENTS | SPRINGER HEIDELBERG | Published : 2020

Abstract

Purpose: Nitrogen (N) is an important nutrient for re-vegetation during ecosystem restoration, but the effects of cover restoration on soil N transformations are not fully understood. This study was conducted to investigate N transformations in soils with different cover restoration ages in Eastern China. Materials and methods: Soil samples were collected from four degraded and subsequently restored lands with restoration ages of 7, 17, 23, and 35 years along with an adjacent control of degraded land. A 15N tracing technique was used to quantify gross N transformation rates. Results and discussion: Compared with degraded land, soil organic carbon (SOC) and total N (TN) increased by 1.60–3.97..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Grants

Awarded by National Natural Science Foundation of China


Awarded by National Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province


Awarded by public welfare project of Fujian Province


Awarded by project of China Scholarship Council


Awarded by Foundation of Fujian Academic of Agricultural Sciences


Awarded by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)


Funding Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the following grants: the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41907077, 41771330, 41401339) and of Fujian Province (2018J01058, 2019J01104, 2019J01105); the public welfare project of Fujian Province (2019R1025-1); the water conservancy science project of Fujian Province; the project of China Scholarship Council (201809350003), and Foundation of Fujian Academic of Agricultural Sciences (AGP2018-9, AB2017-2, SIIT2017-1-9 and project of international cooperation). The study was carried out in close collaboration with the research unit DASIM (FOR 2337) funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG).