IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i4p1303-d319078.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Variations in Soil Physico-Chemical Properties along Slope Position Gradient in Secondary Vegetation of the Hilly Region, Guilin, Southwest China

Author

Listed:
  • Runhong Liu

    (Key Laboratory of Wild Animal and Plant Ecology of Guangxi Colleges and Universities, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541006, China
    State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems/School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China)

  • Yuanfang Pan

    (Key Laboratory of Wild Animal and Plant Ecology of Guangxi Colleges and Universities, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541006, China
    College of Life Science, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541006, China)

  • Han Bao

    (Key Laboratory of Wild Animal and Plant Ecology of Guangxi Colleges and Universities, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541006, China
    College of Life Science, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541006, China)

  • Shichu Liang

    (Key Laboratory of Wild Animal and Plant Ecology of Guangxi Colleges and Universities, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541006, China
    College of Life Science, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541006, China)

  • Yong Jiang

    (Key Laboratory of Wild Animal and Plant Ecology of Guangxi Colleges and Universities, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541006, China
    College of Life Science, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541006, China)

  • Hongrun Tu

    (Key Laboratory of Wild Animal and Plant Ecology of Guangxi Colleges and Universities, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541006, China
    College of Life Science, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541006, China)

  • Juanli Nong

    (Key Laboratory of Wild Animal and Plant Ecology of Guangxi Colleges and Universities, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541006, China
    College of Life Science, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541006, China)

  • Wanqing Huang

    (Key Laboratory of Wild Animal and Plant Ecology of Guangxi Colleges and Universities, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541006, China
    College of Life Science, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541006, China)

Abstract

Understanding the variation of soil physico-chemical properties along slope position gradients is essential for vegetation restoration and reconstruction, but how slope positions impact the soil physico-chemical properties in the secondary vegetation of hilly regions is poorly understood. To address these uncertainties, we examined the changes in soil physico-chemical properties and their relationships along the slope position gradient in secondary vegetation of the hilly region in Guilin, southwest China. The results showed that except for the soil water content, soil total phosphorus and soil total potassium which reached the highest value at the footslope, other soil physico-chemical properties reached the highest content in the middle slope, and most of the soil physico-chemical properties showed the lowest content in the upper slope or footslope. Moreover, Pearson’s correlation analysis revealed that there were no significant correlations between most of the soil physico-chemical properties and that the correlations between soil physico-chemical properties were not consistent across different slope positions. Additionally, the principal component analysis showed that the first 4 principal components together explained 84.32% of the total variation and might be interpreted as the change of soil total nitrogen, soil organic matter, soil available nitrogen, soil available potassium, soil water content and soil total potassium. Overall, our results strongly demonstrated that slope positions showed significant effects on most of the soil physico-chemical properties and would provide an important reference for the formulation of restoration strategies in different slope positions to facilitate vegetation restoration and reconstruction and the sustainable development of the ecological environment in the hilly region.

Suggested Citation

  • Runhong Liu & Yuanfang Pan & Han Bao & Shichu Liang & Yong Jiang & Hongrun Tu & Juanli Nong & Wanqing Huang, 2020. "Variations in Soil Physico-Chemical Properties along Slope Position Gradient in Secondary Vegetation of the Hilly Region, Guilin, Southwest China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-16, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:4:p:1303-:d:319078
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/4/1303/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/4/1303/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dominati, Estelle & Patterson, Murray & Mackay, Alec, 2010. "A framework for classifying and quantifying the natural capital and ecosystem services of soils," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(9), pages 1858-1868, July.
    2. Li, Zhong-Wu & Zeng, Guang-Ming & Zhang, Hua & Yang, Bin & Jiao, Sheng, 2007. "The integrated eco-environment assessment of the red soil hilly region based on GIS—A case study in Changsha City, China," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 202(3), pages 540-546.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Theophilus Atio Abalori & Wenxia Cao & Conrad Atogi-Akwoa Weobong & Wen Li & Shilin Wang & Xiuxia Deng, 2022. "Spatial Vegetation Patch Patterns and Their Relation to Environmental Factors in the Alpine Grasslands of the Qilian Mountains," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-17, May.
    2. Mohamed A. E. AbdelRahman & Yasser M. Zakarya & Mohamed M. Metwaly & Georgios Koubouris, 2020. "Deciphering Soil Spatial Variability through Geostatistics and Interpolation Techniques," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, December.
    3. Erika Gömöryová & Viliam Pichler & Ján Merganič & Peter Fleischer & Marián Homolák, 2022. "Changes of Soil Properties along the Altitudinal Gradients in Subarctic Mountain Landscapes of Putorana Plateau, Central Siberia," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-15, January.
    4. Mohamed S. Shokr & Mostafa. A. Abdellatif & Ahmed A. El Baroudy & Abdelrazek Elnashar & Esmat F. Ali & Abdelaziz A. Belal & Wael. Attia & Mukhtar Ahmed & Ali A. Aldosari & Zoltan Szantoi & Mohamed E. , 2021. "Development of a Spatial Model for Soil Quality Assessment under Arid and Semi-Arid Conditions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-15, March.

    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. Andrea Koch & Alex McBratney & Mark Adams & Damien Field & Robert Hill & John Crawford & Budiman Minasny & Rattan Lal & Lynette Abbott & Anthony O'Donnell & Denis Angers & Jeffrey Baldock & Edward Bar, 2013. "Soil Security: Solving the Global Soil Crisis," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 4(4), pages 434-441, November.
    2. Guifang Yang & Zhenghong Chen, 2015. "RS-based fuzzy multiattribute assessment of eco-environmental vulnerability in the source area of the Lishui River of northwest Hunan Province, China," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 78(2), pages 1145-1161, September.
    3. Schon, N.L. & Dominati, E.J., 2020. "Valuing earthworm contribution to ecosystem services delivery," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    4. Jónsson, Jón Örvar G. & Davíðsdóttir, Brynhildur & Nikolaidis, Nikolaos P. & Giannakis, Georgios V., 2019. "Tools for Sustainable Soil Management: Soil Ecosystem Services, EROI and Economic Analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 109-119.
    5. Livia Marchetti & Valentina Cattivelli & Claudia Cocozza & Fabio Salbitano & Marco Marchetti, 2020. "Beyond Sustainability in Food Systems: Perspectives from Agroecology and Social Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-24, September.
    6. Stephen C. L. Watson & Adrian C. Newton, 2018. "Dependency of Businesses on Flows of Ecosystem Services: A Case Study from the County of Dorset, UK," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-14, April.
    7. Samaneh Sadat Nickayin & Francesca Perrone & Barbara Ermini & Giovanni Quaranta & Rosanna Salvia & Filippo Gambella & Gianluca Egidi, 2021. "Soil Quality and Peri-Urban Expansion of Cities: A Mediterranean Experience (Athens, Greece)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-12, February.
    8. Li, Lu & Shi, Zhi-Hua & Yin, Wei & Zhu, Dun & Ng, Sai Leung & Cai, Chong-Fa & Lei, A-Lin, 2009. "A fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) approach to eco-environmental vulnerability assessment for the danjiangkou reservoir area, China," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 220(23), pages 3439-3447.
    9. Karwan Alkaradaghi & Salahalddin S. Ali & Nadhir Al-Ansari & Jan Laue & Ali Chabuk, 2019. "Landfill Site Selection Using MCDM Methods and GIS in the Sulaimaniyah Governorate, Iraq," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-22, August.
    10. Antoine Vialle & Mario Giampieri, 2020. "Mapping Urbanization as an Anthropedogenetic Process: A Section through the Times of Urban Soils," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(2), pages 262-279.
    11. Veronica Manganiello & Alessandro Banterle & Gabriele Canali & Geremia Gios & Giacomo Branca & Sofia Galeotti & Fabrizio De Filippis & Raffaella Zucaro, 2021. "Economic characterization of irrigated and livestock farms in The Po River Basin District," Economia agro-alimentare, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 23(3), pages 1-24.
    12. Quatrini, Simone, 2021. "Challenges and opportunities to scale up sustainable finance after the COVID-19 crisis: Lessons and promising innovations from science and practice," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    13. Gauri Shankar Gupta, 2019. "Land Degradation and Challenges of Food Security," Review of European Studies, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 11(1), pages 1-63, December.
    14. Daniel Toth & Jaroslava Janků & Adéla Marie Marhoul & Josef Kozák & Mansoor Maitah & Jan Jehlička & Lukáš Řeháček & Richard Přikryl & Tomáš Herza & Jan Vopravil & David Kincl & Tomáš Khel, 2023. "Soil quality assessment using SAS (Soil Assessment System)," Soil and Water Research, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 18(1), pages 1-15.
    15. Fielke, Simon J. & Kaye-Blake, William & Mackay, Alec & Smith, Willie & Rendel, John & Dominati, Estelle, 2018. "Learning from resilience research: Findings from four projects in New Zealand," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 322-333.
    16. Xinyu Ouyang & Xiangyu Luo, 2022. "Models for Assessing Urban Ecosystem Services: Status and Outlooks," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-20, April.
    17. Brady, Mark & Hedlund, Katarina & Cong, Rong-Gang & Hemerik, Lia & Hotes, Stefan & Machado, Stephen & Mattsson, Lennart & Schulz, Elke & Thomsen, Ingrid K., 2015. "Valuing Supporting Soil Ecosystem Services in Agriculture: a Natural Capital Approach," MPRA Paper 112303, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Keith, Aidan M. & Schmidt, Olaf & McMahon, Barry J., 2016. "Soil stewardship as a nexus between Ecosystem Services and One Health," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 17(C), pages 40-42.
    19. Anne C. Richer-de-Forges & Dominique Arrouays & Marion Bardy & Antonio Bispo & Philippe Lagacherie & Bertrand Laroche & Blandine Lemercier & Joëlle Sauter & Marc Voltz, 2019. "Mapping of Soils and Land-Related Environmental Attributes in France: Analysis of End-Users’ Needs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-15, May.
    20. Greenhalgh, S. & Samarasinghe, O. & Curran-Cournane, F. & Wright, W. & Brown, P., 2017. "Using ecosystem services to underpin cost–benefit analysis: Is it a way to protect finite soil resources?," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 27(PA), pages 1-14.

    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:4:p:1303-:d:319078. 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.