The effect of land cover/vegetation on soil water dynamic in the hilly area of the loess plateau,China

Severe soil and water loss has lead to widespread land degradation in China's loess plateau. During the past decades, a great deal of effort was made on vegetation restoration to reduce soil and water loss in the loess plateau. However, due to water shortage the efficiency of vegetation restoration was not as satisfactory as expected. As part of a vegetation restoration project, we conducted research aiming to understand the relationship between vegetation pattern and soil water dynamics. The goal was to find vegetation types appropriate for the loess plateau with scarce water resources. In 1986, fifteen plots of land were planted with five vegetation types: pine woodland, shrubland, sloping cropland, alfalfa and semi-natural grassland. Soil water content, runoff, soil erosion were measured for each plot. Environmental variables, such as rainfall, evaporation and temperature, were recorded simultaneously by an automated meteorological station. The relationship between land cover pattern and soil water dynamic was evaluated by using statistical models. We found that: (1) soil water loss occurred during the growing season, and it reached the maximum in the second half of July; (2) soil water was not fully replenished from rainfall during the rainy season; (3) pine woodland induced the largest water loss to surface runoff, followed by sloping cropland, alfalfa, semi-natural grassland and shrubland; the poor capability of pine woodland for water conservation may be attributed to soil compaction and poor ground coverage under the tree; (4) in most cases, soil water of the five vegetation types was low except for shrubland and semi-natural grassland where it was moderate-high during a few periods. These conditions inhibit sustainable vegetation growth in the semi-arid loess hilly area of the loess plateau, China.     

大豆连作土壤肥力变化与有害生物发生的关系

1995—2003年采用定点定期采样系统调查与室内测定相结合的方法,针对连作大豆土壤营养含量、病虫基数与植株体营养,生物学性状、病虫草发生及产量品质的关系进行了研究,并对各相关性状间的关系进行了系统的统计分析,建立了数学模型,对指导大豆的高产优质栽培具有重要的意义。     

燕麦混粉馒头加工品质特性评价

在传统的馒头加工过程中,添加一定比例的燕麦粉,研究其对馒头感官品质和质构的影响。结果表明,在小麦粉中添加适量的燕麦粉,加工出的馒头在结构、色泽、韧性等感官特性方面都有改善,馒头的硬度、咀嚼性、黏聚性等物性参数得到改变。当燕麦粉添加量为25%时,不仅馒头感官评价得分最高,而且营养价值也得到极大提高。因此,建议在馒头加工中添加25%的燕麦粉为宜。     

Fatty acid patterns of phospholipids and lipopolysaccharides in the characterisation of microbial communities in soil: a review

 This review discusses the analysis of whole-community phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) profiles and the composition of lipopolysaccharides in order to assess the microbial biomass and the community structure in soils. For the determination of soil microbial biomass a good correlation was obtained between the total amount of PLFAs and the microbial biomass measured with methods commonly used for determinations such as total adenylate content and substrate-induced respiration. Generally, after the application of multivariate statistical analyses, whole-community fatty acid profiles indicate which communities are similar or different. However, in most cases, the organisms accounting for similarity or difference cannot be determined, and therefore artefacts could not be excluded. The fatty acids used to determine the biomass vary from those which determine the community structure. Specific attention has to be paid when choosing extraction methods in order to avoid the liberation of fatty acids from non-living organic material and deposits, and to exclude the non-target selection of lipids from living organisms, as well. By excluding the fatty acids which were presumed to be common and widespread prior to multivariate statistical analysis, estimates were improved considerably. Results from principal component analysis showed that determining the levels of fatty acids present in both low and high concentrations is essential in order to correctly identify microorganisms and accurately classify them into taxonomically defined groups. The PLFA technique has been used to elucidate different strategies employed by microorganisms to adapt to changed environmental conditions under wide ranges of soil types, management practices, climatic origins and different perturbations. It has been proposed that the classification of PLFAs into a number of chemically different subgroups should simplify the evaluating procedure and improve the assessment of soil microbial communities, since then only the subgroups assumed to be involved in key processes would be investigated. Received: 24 August 1998     

Earthworm biomass response to soil management in semi-arid tropical Alfisol agroecosystems

Earthworms recorded during 1989–1993 across 15 soil management treatments, comprising three different tillagexthree organic amendments (bare, farmyard manure, and rice straw) and six perennial ley treatments, belonged to two endogeic species, Octochaetona phillotti (Michaelsen) and Lampito mauritii Kinberg, while in a nearby undisturbed natural revegetation area three species were found, including the above two and Octonochaeta rosea (Stephenson). The earthworm biomass showed significant temporal and spatial variations and was higher during the post monsoon period than in the early rainy season. No worm biomass was recorded during the dry season. In the tillage and organic amendment treatments, the biomass was drastically reduced from September 1989 to September 1991 after the application of carbofuran and some herbicides, and was significantly reduced during these two years compared to that of 1992. The maximum monthly earthworm biomass ranged between 2.5 and 17.9 g m^-2 across the treatments and increased several-fold in the nearby natural revegetation area (75.9 g m^-2). It significantly increased in perennial ley treatments compared to annual treatments with organic amendments. Thus the earthworm biomass varied significantly (P<0.01) across the 15 treatments, indicating discernible effects of soil management.Visiting Scientist (under the Rockefeller Foundation Environmental Research Fellowship in International Agriculture)     

Fractal features of soil particle size distribution and the implication for indicating desertification

Some of the effects of land desertification on soil properties are manifested by the coarsening of the soil particlesize distribution (PSD) and the losses in organic C and nutrients. The changes and characteristics of PSD and selected chemical properties in soils at the 0-15 cm plough layer from different degrees of desertified croplands are analyzed in the semiarid Horqin Sandy Land, northern China. The fractal dimension of the PSD is emanated to characterize the patterns of PSD. The relationships between the fractal dimension of the PSD and selected soil properties are discussed. The results show that: (1) in the transformation from potential desertified cropland to extremely desertified cropland, the sand content at the 0-15 cm soil increased from 69% to 93%, organic C and total N contents decreased by 65% and 69%, respectively; (2) the fractal dimension of PSD ranged from 2.179 to 2.611, the more the contents of sand, the lower the fractal dimension and the higher the desertified degree of farmland. In the desertification process within the studied area, the mean fractal dimension decreased from 2.555 for the potential desertified soils to 2.298 for extremely desertified soils; (3) there existed considerable linear relationships between fractal dimension and soil properties. It was shown that fractal dimensions of PSD are useful parameters able to monitor soil degradation and to estimate the degree of soil desertification.     

Dynamics of soil microbial biomass C and soil fertility in cropland mulched with plastic film in a semiarid agro-ecosystem

Microbial biomass C (MBC) is one of the soil properties used as an indicator for the fertility status of a soil. A study was conducted on a semi-arid Loess Plateau in China. The field was planted with spring wheat and mulched with plastic film for various lengths of time. Our primary objectives were to (i) explore the influence of film mulching on soil MBC and soil fertility, and (ii) seek an effective approach of maintaining and improving sustainability of cropland mulched with plastic film in two growing seasons. Four treatments were tested, non-mulching (M0), mulching for 30 days after sowing (M30), mulching for 60 DAS (M60) and mulching for the whole growing period (Mw). An increasing air temperature with time within the growing season promoted soil MBC in the two growing seasons, but a severe drought led to a lower MBC in 2000 compared with the wet year of 1999. Film mulching promoted MBC significantly in the 2 years, but decreased soil organic carbon (SOC). SOC is very low in the experimental soil, accounting for the higher MBC/SOC ratio compared with ratios reported by others. The SOC is greatly reduced in the non-mulched and the Mw treatments compared to the M30 and M60 treatments. In conclusion, the benefits of film mulching in semi-arid agricultural systems are enormous but realizing their full potential depends on how long the mulching material is maintained during the growing season. In the system tested, it is desirable to mulch the plots for 30-60 DAS in order to enhance microbial biomass and cycling of nutrients and also to provide a more stable soil micro-environment that generates more residues in the rhizosphere.     

耕层土壤颗粒表面的分形维数及其与主要土壤特性的关系

四川 1 6个耕地表层的土壤颗粒表面分形维数D为 2 80 5～ 2 942 ,其中砂土2 82 1、壤土 2 870、粘壤土 2 91 6和粘土 2 939。统计分析表明D分别与国际制粗砂粒和细砂粒含量呈极显著负相关 ,与粉粒和粘粒含量呈极显著正相关 ;它与粉粒、粘粒和有机质含量的偏相关关系达极显著水平 ,与容重的偏相关关系达显著水平     

土壤颗粒的分形特征及其应用

本文应用土壤颗粒的质量分布原理来描述土壤颗粒的分形特征。通过对10种土壤颗粒的机械组成进行分析,分别计算出它们的分形维数（D=2.489～2.896）,并分析了其与土壤质地之间的关系。同时对土壤颗粒分形维数与所对应土壤的幂函数型水分特征曲线的拟合分形维数进行比较分析,建立了二者之间的相关关系。结果表明:分形维数的大小反映了土壤质地中粘粒、粉粒和砂粒含量的变化,随粘粒含量的增多分形维数增大,随砂粒含量的增多分形维数减小;同时土壤颗粒分形维数与所对应的水分特征曲线的拟合分形维数呈现出良好的一致性,因而对所研究的土壤而言,可应用土壤颗粒的质量分形维数结合幂函数模型来估算土壤水分特性曲线。