Artificial root exudates and soil organic carbon mineralization in a degraded sandy grassland in northern China

Plant root exudates contain various organic and inorganic components that include glucose, citric and oxalic acid. These components affect rhizosphere microbial and microfaunal activities, but the mechanisms are not fully known. Studies concerned from degraded grassland ecosystems with low soil carbon（C） contents are rare, in spite of the global distribution of grasslands in need of restoration. All these have a high potential for carbon sequestration, with a reduced carbon content due to overutilization. An exudate component that rapidly decomposes will increase soil respiration and CO2 emission, while a component that reduces decomposition of native soil carbon can reduce CO2 emission and actually help sequestering carbon in soil. Therefore, to investigate root exudate effects on rhizosphere activity, citric acid, glucose and oxalic acid（0.6 g C/kg dry soil） were added to soils from three biotopes（grassland, fixed dune and mobile dune） located in Naiman, Horqin Sandy Land, Inner Mongolia, China） and subjected to a 24-day incubation experiment together with a control. The soils were also analyzed for general soil properties. The results show that total respiration without exudate addition was highest in grassland soil, intermediate in fixed dune and lowest in mobile dune soil. However, the proportion of native soil carbon mineralized was highest in mobile dune soil, reflecting the low C/N ratio found there. The exudate effects on CO2-C emissions and other variables differed somewhat between biotopes, but total respiration（including that from the added substrates） was significantly increased in all combinations compared with the control, except for oxalic acid addition to mobile dune soil, which reduced CO2-C emissions from native soil carbon. A small but statistically significant increase in pH by the exudate additions in grassland and fixed dune soil was observed, but there was a major decrease from acid additions to mobile dune soil. In contrast, electrical conductivity decreased in grassland and fixed dune soil and increased in mobile dune. Thus, discrete components of root exudates affected soil environmental conditions differently, and responses to root exudates in soils with low carbon contents can differ from those in normal soils. The results indicate a potential for, e.g., acid root exudates to decrease decomposition rate of soil organic matter in low carbon soils, which is of interest for both soil restoration and carbon sequestration.

Land cover changes and the effects of cultivation on soil properties in Shelihu wetland,Horqin Sandy Land,Northern China

Land cover change plays an essential role in the alternation of soils properties. By field investigation and applying satellite images, land cover information in the Shelihu wetland was carried out in an area of 2,819 hm2 in 1985, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2011, respectively, in Horqin Sandy Land. A total of 57 soil sampling sites across Shelihu were chosen in wet meadow （CL0）, cropland （CL） and sandy land （SL） according to the spatial characteristics of water body change. Soil texture, organic carbon （SOC）, total nitrogen （TN） and total phosphorus （TP） contents, electrical conductivity （EC） and pH were measured at the soil depths of 0-10, 10-20 and 20-40 cm to examine the influence of agricultural conversion and continuous cultivation on soil properties. The results showed that the study area was covered by water body in 1985, which gradually declined afterwards and then reclaimed rapidly at a mean annual rate of 132.1 hm2/a from wet meadow to cropland since 1995. In 2011, water body was drained and the area was occupied by 10.8% of CL0, 76.9% of CL and 12.3% of SL. Large amounts of SOC, TN and TP were accumulated in the above depths in CL0. Soil in CL0 also had higher EC and silt and clay fractions, lower pH than in SL and CL. Soil in SL was seriously degraded with lower contents of SOC, TN and TP than in CL and CL0. SOC, TN content and EC in CL decreased with the increase of cultivation age, while pH showed a reverse trend with significance at plough horizon. The agricultural conversion in Shelihu was driven by the comprehensive factors of precipitation reduction, economic development and intense competitions for irrigation water. Continuous cultivation in this process is not sustainable because of SOC degradation and nutrient content reduction. The key point is that conventional tillage and removal of residuals induced further land degradation. Wetland reclamation for immediate economic interests led to greater costs in the long-term environmental restoration in Horqin Sandy Land.

Vertical distribution of Artemisia halodendron root system in relation to soil properties in Horqin Sandy Land, NE China

Root distribution plays an important role in both vegetation establishment and restoration of degraded land through in-fluencing soil property and vegetation growth. Root distribution at 0-60 cm depth of A. halodendron was investigated in Horqin Sandy Land. Soil organic carbon （SOC） and nitrogen （SN） concentration as well as carbon and nitrogen in root biomass and necromass were measured. Root length density （RLD） was estimated. Total root biomass, necromass and the RLD at 0-60 cm depth was 172 g/m^2, 245 g/m^2, and 368 m/m^2, respectively. Both biomass and necromass of A. halodendron roots decreased with soil depth, live roots were mainly at 0-20 cm （76% of biomass and 63% of root length）, while 73% of the necromass was within 0-30 cm depth. N concentration of roots （biomass and necromass） was about 1.0% and 1.5%, respectively. There were significant differences in SOC concentration between soil layers, but insignificant for SN. Soil C/N ratio decreased with depth （P〈0.05）. C and N storage for belowground system at 0-60 cm decreased markedly with depth; 41.4% of C and 31.7% of N were allocated to the 0-10 cm layer. Root bio- and necromass together contained similar amount of C to that of the soil itself in the top layer. N stock was dominated by soil nitrogen at all depths, but more so in deeper layers. It is clear that differentiating between soil layers will aid in interpreting A. halodendron efficiency in soil restoration in sandy land.

Carbon sequestration in the total and light fraction soil organic matter along a chronosequence in grazing exclosures in a semiarid degraded sandy site in China

Horqin Sandy Land is a fragile, seriously desertified region located in Inner Mongolia of China. Over- grazing is one of the primary drivers of desertification in this region. We investigated whether the establishment of grazing exclosures in areas with active sand dunes enhances soil carbon （C） sequestration and benefits soil re- covery. The results showed that soil organic C storage was 1.4, 1.9, and 3.5 times, and light fraction C storage was 2.3, 3.2, and 4.4 times in the 100-cm topsoil after 7, 12, and 25 years of grazing exclusion, respectively, compared to the case in active sand dunes. The light fraction of soil played an important role in soil C sequestration, although it might not change rapidly to provide an early indication of how soil C is increasing in response to grazing exclusion. The results indicated that soils could potentially sequester up to 13.8 Mt C in 25 years if active sand dunes in the study area were to be protected by exclosures. This corresponds to 12.8% of the estimated carbon loss （107.53 Mt） that has been associated with desertification over the past century in the Horqin Sandy Land. Our results suggested that exclosures have the capacity to increase soil C sequestration; however, decades will be required for soil C to recover to historical grassland levels observed prior to desertification.

Characteristics of high arsenic groundwater in Hetao Basin,Inner Mongolia,northern China

It is well known that the Hetao Basin is one of the most seriously arsenic-affected groundwater areas in China. In order to understand the characteristics of high arsenic （As） groundwater in the Basin, a brief overview of arsenic in groundwater follows. High arsenic in the Basin commonly occurs in shallow groundwater and the total arsenic concentrations range from 0.58 to 572 μg/L （average 99.73 μg/L）, exceeding the maximum mandated value of 10 μg/L for drinking water in China; As（III） is the predominant species. The regional distribution pattern of arsenic in the groundwater increases from south/southeast to north/northwest. Hangjinhouqi and Wuyuan counties are considered as the most seriously affected areas, with high incidences of endemic arsenicosie diseases in the Hetao Basin. High groundwater arsenic correlates with the increase of well depth. Previous studies proposed that groundwater arsenic in the Basin is mainly originated from desorption of some natural solid materials in the sediments, under reducing condition. Generally, reducing condition is believed to be the primary factor for arsenic releasing from the sediment to groundwater in the region. Under inorganic Or bacterial processes, Fe2O3 changes to FeS and arsenic adsorbed to Fe（OH）3 dissolves into groundwater, and As（V） is re- duced to As（W）. Besides, reducing environments, groundwater hydraulic gradients, organic matter, pH, evapotranspiration, and soil texture are presumed to be the predominant factors that control arsenic mobilization.