A Challenge and Chance for Soil Ecology

Soil ecology is concerned with interactions between organisms or between organisms and the soil environment. Soil ecology has its origins in soil biology and soil zoology, the study of organisms in the soil habitat. Soil ecology and soil science are related, yet different disciplines, with soil science focusing more on physical processes, the classification and genesis of soils, soil chemistry, and soil physics. Recent efforts in soil ecology have focused on developing a mechanistic understanding of how organisms and soils interact to yield patterns of soil biodiversity, nutrient cycling function within ecosystems, and feedbacks to global change mechanism

Effects of canopy closure on photosynthetic characteristics of Ilex latifolia Thunb. in Phyllostachys pubescens forests

Plantation under the forest is a good way of agroforestry, but the canopy closure has a great influence on understory herbs’ growth. In the study, different canopy closures of Phyllostachys pubescens forests were set up to explore its influence on the growth of Ilex latifolia Thunb. The photosynthetic characteristics of Ilex latifolia leaves under different canopy closures were determined by Li-6400 portable photosynthetic system. The results showed that the net photosynthetic rate curve of Ilex latifolia leaves of T1 (canopy closure of 0.56) was bimodal with an obvious "midday depression" phenomenon, while the net photosynthetic rate curves of T2 (canopy closure of 0.72) and T3 (canopy closure of 0.86) were unimodal. The results of light response curve showed that the photosynthetically active radiation and transpiration rate reduced with the increasing of canopy closures. The photosynthetically active radiation, transpiration rate, stomatal conductance, and net photosynthetic rate of Ilex latifolia leaves of T2 were higher than those of T3. Although the net photosynthetic rate of T2 was lower than that of T1, it had no obvious photo-inhibition which affected plant growth. Overall, the canopy closure of 0.72 was more suitable for the growth of Ilex latifolia. The herb plantation in the bamboo forest should be considered with the canopy closure for a better growth

Nitrogen Release Characteristics of a Bag Controlled Release Fertilizer

Slow release fertilizers are designed to enhance crop yield and minimizing the loss of nitrogen (N) to environment. However, N release in leaching and loss in ammonia emission from bag controlled release fertilizers have not been previously evaluated under the standardized conditions in soil. Accordingly, a laboratory study was conducted to evaluate the characteristics of N release from a bag controlled fertilizer with 1, 3, 5 and 7 rows of hole (B-1, B-3, B-5, B-7) and a kraft bag without hole (B-W). The results showed that the amount of N leaching of B-1, B-3, B-5, B-7 and B-W were significantly lower than urea fertilizer without bag (U). The maximum N release from the fertilizers followed the order: U (83.16%) > B-7 (54.61%) > B-5 (54.02%) > B-W (51.51%) > B-3 (48.87%) > B-1 (38.60%) during the experimentation. Compared with U treatment, ammonia volatilization losses were significantly decreased by B-1, B-3, B-5, B-7 and B-W treatments. Based on N release and loss, a suitable bag with holes should be considered in practice when using the bag controlled fertilizer to meet an environment good objective. The evaluation method merits further study combined with field experiment

Effect of Land Cultivation on Soil Nutrient Sedimentation in Water at Southern China

Soil erosion associated with land cultivation exerts a great impact on ecological environment. Such an impact is specific of land, crop, tillage, management and so on. This study aimed to investigate the effects of crop cultivation on water quality by comparing nutrient distribution in the sediment at Southern China. Two sedimentation sites adjacent to the uncultivated (S1) and cultivated upland (S2) were selected and samples were analyzed. Results showed that soil pH decreased with the increasing depth above 20 cm and then kept relatively stable of the both sediments. Soil organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorus contents decreased with the increasing depth. There was no significant difference between two sediments in organic matter and nitrogen contents, but the total phosphorus and extractable phosphorus contents in S2 were much higher than that in S1. The data indicated that soil eroded from S2 could possess much high potential to deteriorate water quality. Nutrient sedimentation can reflect the history of soil erosion and provide useful information for sustainable soil management and water conservation through improving cultivation and tillage measures

Legume Green Manuring Improves Soil Fertility and Plant Growth of Eucalyptus Plantation in South Subtropical China

Legume green manure is extensively planted to improve soil fertility in crop field. However, the application of legume in Eucalyptus plantation is still limited and depends on site specific and species. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the effects of green manure interplantation on soil fertility and plant growth of Eucalyptus plantation in a short term. A field experiment of one year was established to investigate the green manure growth, forest soil nutrients and Eucalyptus plant growth inter-planted with two legume species (Tephrosia candida, TC and Sesbania cannabina, SC) at south subtropical China. Legumes were inter-planted in linear among the tree space of Eucalyptus stand. Result showed that the green manure inter-plantation increased soil organic matter by 9.66% of TC and 18.44% of SC. Soil available nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium were improved significantly by the legume treatments as well. The increment of height and diameter at breast height of Eucalyptus during the experiment was significant in legume treatments. Thus, the timber volume increment was improved significantly by 46.81% of TC and 35.47% of SC compared with the control treatment. Therefore, the inter-plantation of legume green manure under the Eucalyptus plantation is effective to improve soil fertility and tree growth. Such a measure is potential and referenced for the sustainable forest management

Effects of Silicon Fertilization on Soil Chemical Properties and Phytolith Formation of Phyllostachys pubescens

Silicon is benefit to Gramineae plants in growth and resistance to various stresses. However, the effect of silicon fertilizer application on Phyllostachys pubescens is still not investigated yet. Phyllostachys pubescens Mazel ex J. Houz is one kind of Gramineae plants which distributes in a large area. In this study, a field experiment with five Si fertilizer application rates (0, 125, 250, 375, and 500 kg ha-1) was setup in a Phyllostachys pubescens forest in China to examine the effects of Si fertilizer on bamboo Si and phytolith accumulation in fresh leaf and leaf litter. Results showed that Si application increased soil available Si content in deep layers. Si content of leaf-litter increased with the increasing level of Si fertilizer application rate, with the value ranging from 114.3 g kg−1 to 172.7 g kg−1, however, no significant difference was observed in fresh leaf, with the value ranging from 84.0 g kg−1 to 115.0 g kg−1. The phytolith contents of leaf-litter and fresh leaf were consistent with the Si contents, the phytolith content in leaf-litter of T4 (500 kg ha-1) was 48.4% higher than the control, suggesting Phyllostachys pubescens exhibited an increasing carbon sink in phytolith when Si fertilizer applied, which is an effective way to increase long-term soil organic carbon storage in Phyllostachys pubescens forests with a suitable Si fertilization

Carbon stock of Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys pubescens) forests along a latitude gradient in the subtropical region of China.

Latitude is an important factor that influences the carbon stock of Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys pubescens) forests. Accurate estimation of the carbon stock of Moso bamboo forest can contribute to sufficient evaluation of forests in carbon sequestration worldwide. Nevertheless, the effect of latitude on the carbon stock of Moso bamboo remains unclear. In this study, a field survey with 36 plots of Moso bamboo forests along a latitude gradient was conducted to investigate carbon stock. Results showed that the diameter at breast height (DBH) of Moso bamboo culms increased from 8.37 cm to 10.12 cm that well fitted by Weibull model, whereas the bamboo culm density decreased from 4722 culm ha-1 to 3400 culm ha-1 with increasing latitude. The bamboo biomass carbon decreased from 60.58 Mg C ha-1 to 48.31 Mg C ha-1 from north to south. The total carbon stock of Moso bamboo forests, which comprises soil and biomass carbon, ranged from 87.83 Mg C ha-1 to 119.5 Mg C ha-1 and linearly increased with latitude. As a fast-growing plant, Moso bamboo could be harvested amounts of 6.0 Mg C ha-1 to 7.6 Mg C ha-1 annually, which indicates a high potential of this species for carbon sequestration. Parameters obtained in this study can be used to accurately estimate the carbon stock of Moso bamboo forest to establish models of the global carbon balance

Effects of Soil Temperature, Water Content, Species, and Fertilization on Soil Respiration in Bamboo Forest in Subtropical China

Understanding the change pattern of soil respiration (SR) and its drivers under different bamboo species and land management practices is critical for predicting soil CO2 emission and evaluating the carbon budget of bamboo forest ecosystems. A 24-month field study was performed in subtropical China to monitor SR in experimental plots of local bamboo (Phyllostachys glauca) without fertilization (PG) and commercial bamboo (Phyllostachys praecox) with and without fertilization (PPF and PP, respectively). The SR rate and soil properties were measured on a monthly timescale. Results showed that the SR rate ranged from 0.38 to 8.53 µmol CO2 m−2s−1, peaking in June. The PPF treatment had higher SR rates than the PP and PG treatments for most months; however, there were no significant differences among the treatments. The soil temperature (ST) in the surface layer (0–10 cm) was found to be the predominant factor controlling the temporal change pattern of the monthly SR rate in the PG and PP treatments (i.e., those without fertilization). A bivariate model is used to show that a natural factor—comprised of ST and soil water content (SWC)—explained 44.2% of the variation in the monthly SR rate, whereas biological (i.e., bamboo type) and management (i.e., fertilization) factors had a much smaller impact (less than 0.1% of the variation). The annual mean SR showed a significant positive correlation with soil organic matter (SOM; r = 0.51, P < 0.05), total nitrogen (TN; r = 0.47, P < 0.05), total phosphorus (TP; r = 0.60, P < 0.01), clay content (0.72, P < 0.05) and below-ground biomass (r = 0.60*), which altogether explain 69.0% of the variation in the annual SR. Our results indicate that the fertilization effect was not significant in SR rate for most months among the treatments, but was significant in the annual rate. These results may help to improve policy decisions concerning carbon sequestration and the management of bamboo forests in China