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Aggregate-associated soil organic carbon fractions in sub-tropical soil undergoing vegetative restoration
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  • Xiaojun Liu,
  • Yi Zhang,
  • Ling Zhang,
  • Xiangmin Fang,
  • Wenping Deng,
  • Yuanqiu Liu
Xiaojun Liu
Ningxia University

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Yi Zhang
Ningxia University
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Ling Zhang
Jiangxi Agricultural University
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Xiangmin Fang
Jiangxi Agricultural University
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Wenping Deng
Jiangxi Agricultural University
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Yuanqiu Liu
Jiangxi Agricultural University
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Abstract

Precise assessment of soil organic carbon (SOC) storage requires understanding how vegetation and soil physicochemical properties differ in SOC fractions. Therefore, we aimed to analyze the dynamics of aggregate-associated, liable organic carbon (LOC) fractions corresponding to depth to clarify the effect of vegetation and soil properties on water stable aggregate (WSA) mineral adsorption in subtropical, red soil with five vegetation restoration regimes. The results showed that the large macro-aggregate fraction dominated the degraded red soil, which had the highest content of dissolved organic carbon (DOC). WSA-associated, easily oxidized organic carbon (EOC) varied from 6.26 to 20.02 g/kg and was not affected by vegetation types. Schima superba pure forest (SP) significantly increased DOC (0.38 g/kg on average) and particulate organic carbon (POC, 7.92g/kg on average), which had the highest biomass. Along with soil depth, WSA-associated POC declined, while exhibiting a growth trend with decreasing particle size, e.g., the highest POC was found in silt + clay fraction. The RDA ordination indicated that soil porosity and TN were the main soil parameters that explained the most variance. Meanwhile, the vegetation biomass, except for litter, were all significantly positively correlated with silt + clay fractions. Leaf biomass played the most important role on DOC in macro-aggregate with a 53.42% contribution. For aggregate-related POC, the largest contribution was from the interactions between branch biomass and pH (47.78%) followed by TN (35.1%) of micro-aggregate-related POC. Leaf biomass, silt + clay fractions, and TN can be used as indicators to evaluate the impact of vegetation restoration on WSA-associated SOC fractions. Broad leaved forest or combined with indigenous coniferous species was a better choice for SOC sequestration improvement in the study area.
17 May 2022Submitted to Land Degradation & Development
18 May 2022Submission Checks Completed
18 May 2022Assigned to Editor
17 Jun 2022Reviewer(s) Assigned
08 Jul 2022Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
06 Oct 20221st Revision Received
06 Oct 2022Submission Checks Completed
06 Oct 2022Assigned to Editor
27 Nov 2022Reviewer(s) Assigned
04 Mar 2023Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
03 Apr 2023Editorial Decision: Revise Minor
27 Apr 20232nd Revision Received
27 Apr 2023Submission Checks Completed
27 Apr 2023Assigned to Editor
27 Apr 2023Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
06 May 2023Reviewer(s) Assigned
15 May 2023Editorial Decision: Accept