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Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology ›› 2016, Vol. 27 ›› Issue (4): 1015-1023.doi: 10.13287/j.1001-9332.201604.015

• Special Features for 2016 Annual Meeting of Ecological Society of China • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Plant and soil nutrient characteristics in the karst shrub ecosystem of southwest Hunan, China

LI Yan-qiong1, DENG Xiang-wen1,2*, YI Chang-yan3, DENG Dong-hua3, HUANG Zhi-hong1,2, XIANG Wen-hua1,2, FANG Xi1,2, JING Yi-ran1   

  1. 1College of Life Science and Technology, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha 410004, China;
    2National Engineering Laboratory for Applied Technology of Forestry & Ecology in South China, Changsha 410004, China;
    3Shao-yang Bureau of Forestry, Shaoyang 422100, Hunan, China
  • Received:2015-07-01 Revised:2016-01-19 Online:2016-04-22 Published:2016-04-22
  • Supported by:
    This work was supported by the Forestry Science and Technology Promotion Project of State Forestry Administration of China ([2014]52), the Desertification (Rocky Desertification) Monitoring Project of State Forestry Administration of China (20130910, 20150618) and the National Forestry Welfare Research of China (201404316).2015-07-01 Received, 2016-01-19 Accepted.*

Abstract: This research was conducted in light (LRD), moderate (MRD, abandoned land) and intense (IRD) rocky desertification shrub ecosystems in Shaoyang, Hunan Province. We collected plant samples and soil at 3 layers (0-15, 15-30, 30-45 cm), and analyzed the distribution patterns of soil and plant nutrients and the relationships among them. Our results showed that the contents of soil organic carbon (SOC) and total N in different soil layers were various and decreased with soil depth, while the contents of total P, K, Ca and Mg had no obvious variation among the different soil layers. The contents of total N, P, Ca and Mg in soil were significantly different among the 3 rocky desertification shrub ecosystems, and the SOC, total N and total P in MRD were relatively higher than in the others. The rank of macroelement contents in soils for LRD and IRD was SOC>total K>total Ca>total Mg>total N>total P, while it was SOC>total K>total Ca>total N>total Mg>total P for MRD. The rank of macroelement contents in plants from the 3 rocky desertification shrub ecosystems was Ca>N>K>Mg>P, and the contents of N and P in plants were significantly positively correlated with the corresponding contents of total N and total P in soils. Soil nutrients were closely related to vegetation growth. According to the soil nutrient status of desertification plots of different grades, we should integrate the forest reservation with artificial afforestation and targeted fertilization methods for managing karst rocky desertification.