Variation Characteristics of Root Traits of Different Alfalfa Cultivars under Saline-Alkaline Stress and their Relationship with Soil Environmental Factors

Soil salinization is the main factor that threatens the growth and development of plants and limits the increase of yield.It is of great significance to study the key soil environmental factors affecting plant root traits to reveal the adaptation strategies of plants to saline-alkaline-stressed soil environments.In this study,the root biomass,root morphological parameters and root mineral nutrient content of two alfalfa cultivars with different sensitivities to alkaline stress were analyzed with black soil as the control group and the mixed saline-alkaline soil with a ratio of 7:3 between black soil and saline-alkaline soil as the saline-alkaline treatment group.At the same time,the correlation analysis of soil salinity indexes,soil nutrient indexes and the activities of key enzymes involved in soil carbon,nitrogen and phosphorus cycles was carried out.The results showed that compared with the control group,the pH,EC,and urease(URE)of the soil surrounding the roots of two alfalfa cultivars were significantly increased,while soil total nitrogen(TN),total phosphorus(TP),organic carbon(SOC),andα-glucosidase activity(AGC)were significantly decreased under saline-alkaline stress.There was no significant difference in root biomass and root morphological parameters of saline-alkaline tolerant cultivar GN under saline-alkaline stress.The number of root tips(RT),root surface area(RS)and root volume(RV)of AG were reduced by 61.16%,44.54%,and 45.31%,respectively,compared with control group.The ratios of K^(+)/Na^(+),Ca^(2+)/Na^(+)and Mg^(2+)/Na^(+)of GN were significantly higher than those of AG(p<0.05).The root fresh weight(RFW)and dry weight(RDW),root length(RL),RV and RT of alfalfa were positively regulated by soil SOC and TN,but negatively regulated by soil pH,EC,and URE(p<0.01).Root Ca^(2+)/Na+ratio was significantly positively correlated with soil TN,TP and SOC(p<0.01).The absorption of Mg and Ca ions in roots is significantly negatively regulated by soilβ-glucosidase activity(BGC)and acid phosphatase activity(APC)(p<0.05).This study improved knowledge of the relationship between root traits and soil environmental factors and offered a theoretical framework for elucidating how plant roots adapt to saline-alkaline stressed soil environments.

Assessment and mapping of environmental quality in agricultural soils of Zhejiang Province, China

Heavy metal concentrations in agricultural soils of Zhejiang Province were monitored to indicate the status of heavy metal contamination and assess environmental quality of agricultural soils. A total of 908 soil samples were collected from 38 counties in Zbejiang Province and eight heavy metal （Cd, Cr, Pb, Hg, Cu, Zn, Ni and As） concentrations had been evaluated in agricultural soil. It was found 775 samples were unpolluted and 133 samples were slightly polluted and more respectively, that is approximately 14.65% agricultural soil samples had the heavy metal concentration above the threshold level in this province by means of Nemerow＇s synthetical pollution index method according to the second grade of Standards for Soil Environmental Quality of China （GB15618- 1995）. Contamination of Cd was the highest, followed by Ni, As and Zn were lower correspondingly. Moreover, Inverse Distance Weighted （IDW） interpolation method was used to make an assessment map of soil environmental quality based on the Nemerow＇s pollution index and the soil environmental quality was categorized into five grades. Moreover, ten indices were calculated as input parameters for principal component analysis （PCA） and the principal components （PCs） were created to compare environmental quality of different soils and regions. The results revealed that environmental quality of tea soils was better than that of paddy soils, vegetable soils and fruit soils. This study indicated that GIS combined with multivariate statistical approaches proved to be effective and powerful tool in the mapping of soil contamination distribution and the assessment of soil environmental quality on provincial scale, which is beneficial to environmental protection and management decision-making by local government.

Effects of water application intensity of micro-sprinkler irrigation and soil salinity on environment of coastal saline soils

To achieve the greatest leaching efficiency,water movement must occur under unsaturated flow conditions.Accordingly,the water application intensity of irrigation must be chosen carefully.The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the water application intensity of micro-sprinkler irrigation on coastal saline soil with different salt contents.To achieve this objective,a laboratory experiment was conducted with three soil salinity treatments(2.26,10.13,and 22.29 dS/m)and three water application intensity treatments(3.05,5.19,and 7.23 mm/h).The results showed that the effect of soil salinity on soil water content,electrical conductivity,and pH was significant,and the effect of the water application intensity was insignificant.High soil water content was present in the 40e60 cm profile in all soil salinity treatments,and the content was higher in the medium and high water application intensity treatments than in the low-intensity treatment.Significant salt leaching occurred in all treatments,and the effect was stronger in the high soil salinity treatment and medium water application intensity treatment.In the medium and high soil salinity treatments,pH exhibited a decreasing trend,with no trend change in the low soil salinity treatment,and the pH value was higher in the medium water application intensity treatment than in the other two treatments.These results indicated that the three intensities evaluated had no statistically different effect on the electrical conductivity of saturated soil-paste extracts(EC)in the upper 20 cm of the soil profile,and it would be better to maintain a lower value of the water application intensity.

Biochar alleviates apple replant disease by reducing the growth of Fusarium oxysporum and regulating microbial communities

Apple replant disease(ARD)negatively affects plant growth and reduces yields in replanted orchards.In this study,biochar was applied to apple replant soil with Fusarium oxysporum.Our aim was to investigate whether biochar could promote plant growth and alleviate apple replant disease by reducing the growth of harmful soil microorganisms,changing soil microbial community structure and improving the soil environment.This experiment included five treatments:apple replant soil(CK),methyl bromide fumigation apple replant soil(FM),replant soil with biochar addition(2%),replant soil with F.oxysporum spore solution(8×10^(7)spores·mL^(-1)),and replant soil with biochar and F.oxysporum spore solution addition.Seedling biomass,the activity of antioxidant enzymes in the leaves and roots,and soil environmental variables were measured.Microbial community composition and community structure were analyzed using 16SrDNA and ITS2 gene sequencing.Biochar significantly reduced the abundance of F.oxysporum and increased soil microbial diversity and richness.Biochar also increased the soil enzyme activities(urease,invertase,neutral phosphatase,and catalase),the biomass(plant height,fresh weight,dry weight)and the activity of antioxidant enzymes(superoxide dismutase,peroxidase,and catalase).The root indexes of apple seedlings was also increased in replant soil by biochar.In sum,biochar promoted the growth of plants,improved the replant soil environment,and alleviated apple replant disease.

Analysis of Heavy Metal Sources for Vegetable Soils from Shandong Province, China

Heavy metal pollution in agricultural soils has serious negative influence on human health. Concentrations of Cd, Hg, As, Pb, Cr, Cu, Zn, and Ni in top soils （0-20 cm） of greenhouses and farmlands from four main vegetable production areas Shouguang, Laiyang, Jinxiang, and Zhangqiu in Shandong Province, one of the most rapidly developing regions in China, were measured in this study. Shouguang is mainly occupied by greenhouse vegetables and the other three areas are mainly open field culture. Total of 149 soil samples were collected. The average concentrations of the eight heavy metals of the tested 149 soil samples were all below the threshold values according to ＂Farmland environmental quality evaluation standards for edible agricultural products （HJ332-2006）＂ of China. However, most of the studied heavy metals were present at higher concentrations than those of the natural background levels in local agricultural soils. Among the total 149 soil samples, 22 samples were contaminated by Cd, Ni, Cu, or Hg. Comparisons showed that the main pollution element in greenhouse vegetable soils was Cd, while that of open field vegetable soils was Cu. The results of principal components analysis （PCA） suggested that concentrations of Cr, As, and Ni were mainly controlled by parent rocks; Hg and Pb were affected by anthropogenic activities such as vehicle and industrial fumes and waste water irrigation. Meanwhile, concentrations of Cd, Cu, and Zn were affected mainly by the use of agrochemicals. Most of the heavy metals were positively correlated with each other in concentration. Appropriate measures should be taken to effectively control heavy metal levels in vegetable soils and thus protect human health.

Automatic extraction and structuration of soil–environment relationship information from soil survey reports

In addition to soil samples, conventional soil maps, and experienced soil surveyors, text about soils(e.g., soil survey reports) is an important potential data source for extracting soil–environment relationships. Considering that the words describing soil–environment relationships are often mixed with unrelated words, the first step is to extract the needed words and organize them in a structured way. This paper applies natural language processing(NLP) techniques to automatically extract and structure information from soil survey reports regarding soil–environment relationships. The method includes two steps:(1) construction of a knowledge frame and(2) information extraction using either a rule-based method or a statistic-based method for different types of information. For uniformly written text information, the rule-based approach was used to extract information. These types of variables include slope, elevation, accumulated temperature, annual mean temperature, annual precipitation, and frost-free period. For information contained in text written in diverse styles, the statistic-based method was adopted. These types of variables include landform and parent material. The soil species of China soil survey reports were selected as the experimental dataset. Precision(P), recall(R), and F1-measure(F1) were used to evaluate the performances of the method. For the rule-based method, the P values were 1, the R values were above 92%, and the F1 values were above 96% for all the involved variables. For the method based on the conditional random fields(CRFs), the P, R and F1 values for the parent material were, respectively, 84.15, 83.13, and 83.64%; the values for landform were 88.33, 76.81, and 82.17%, respectively. To explore the impact of text types on the performance of the CRFs-based method, CRFs models were trained and validated separately by the descriptive texts of soil types and typical profiles. For parent material, the maximum F1 value for the descriptive text of soil types was 90.7%, while the maximum F1 value for the descriptive text of soil profiles was only 75%. For landform, the maximum F1 value for the descriptive text of soil types was 85.33%, which was similar to that of the descriptive text of soil profiles(i.e., 85.71%). These results suggest that NLP techniques are effective for the extraction and structuration of soil–environment relationship information from a text data source.

Effect of deteriorated microstructures on stress corrosion cracking of X70 pipeline steel in acidic soil environment

In order to investigate stress corrosion cracking （SCC） of X70 pipeline steel and its weld joint area in acidic soil environ- ment in China, two simulating methods were used： one was to obtain bad microstructures in heat affected zone by annealing at 1300 ℃ for 10 min and then, quenching in water; the other was to get different simulating solutions of acidic soil in Yingtan in south- east China. The SCC susceptibilities of X70 pipeline steel before and after quenching in the simulating solutions were analyzed using slow stain rate test （SSRT） and potentiodynamic polarization technique to investigate the SCC electrochemical mechanism of different microstructures further. The results show that SCC appears in the original microstructure and the quenched microstructure as the polarization potential decreases. Hydrogen revolution accelerates SCC of the two tested materials within the range of-850 mV to -1200 mV vs. SCE. Microstructural hardening and grain coarsening also increase SCC. The SCC mechanisms are different, anodic dissolution is the key of causing SCC as the polarization potential is higher than the null current potential, and hydrogen embrittlement will play a more important role to SCC as the polarization potential lower than the null current potential.

Updating conventional soil maps by mining soil–environment relationships from individual soil polygons

Conventional soil maps contain valuable knowledge on soil–environment relationships.Such knowledge can be extracted for use when updating conventional soil maps with improved environmental data.Existing methods take all polygons of the same map unit on a map as a whole to extract the soil–environment relationship.Such approach ignores the difference in the environmental conditions represented by individual soil polygons of the same map unit.This paper proposes a method of mining soil–environment relationships from individual soil polygons to update conventional soil maps.The proposed method consists of three major steps.Firstly,the soil–environment relationships represented by each individual polygon on a conventional soil map are extracted in the form of frequency distribution curves for the involved environmental covariates.Secondly,for each environmental covariate,these frequency distribution curves from individual polygons of the same soil map unit are synthesized to form the overall soil–environment relationship for that soil map unit across the mapped area.And lastly,the extracted soil–environment relationships are applied to updating the conventional soil map with new,improved environmental data by adopting a soil land inference model(SoLIM)framework.This study applied the proposed method to updating a conventional soil map of the Raffelson watershed in La Crosse County,Wisconsin,United States.The result from the proposed method was compared with that from the previous method of taking all polygons within the same soil map unit on a map as a whole.Evaluation results with independent soil samples showed that the proposed method exhibited better performance and produced higher accuracy.

Effects of heavy metal pollution on farmland soils and crops:A case study of the Xiaoqinling Gold Belt,China

This paper focuses on the heavy metal enrichment and heavy metal pollution degree associated with mining activities in some crops and the soils of different parent materials in the Xiaoqinling Gold Belt.According to the geochemical analysis results of the soils observed in the gold belt,the soils are most highly enriched in Pb,followed by Cr,Cu,and Zn.Furthermore,they are relatively poor in Hg,Cd,and As.It is also shown that the heavy metals in all kinds of soils have the same geochemical characteristics in the gold belt.As for the crops(such as corn and wheat)in the gold belt,Zn and Cu are the most abundant elements,followed by Pb and Cr.Meanwhile,Hg,Cd,and As were found to have relatively low concentrations in the crops.The heavy metals in wheat and corn have the same geochemical characteristics in the gold belt in general.Compared to the aeolian loess soils and the crops therein,heavy metals are more enriched in diluvial and alluvial soils and the crops therein.As shown by relevant studies,the Hg,Pb,Cd,Cu,and Zn pollution are mainly caused by mining activities.Corn and wheat in the gold belt have a high tendency of risk exposure to heavy metal pollution since they are mostly affected by mining activities and feature high background values of heavy metal concentrations.Furthermore,wheat is more liable to be enriched in heavy metals than corn is grown in all types of soils.The Hg pollution in soils leads to Hg accumulation,increasing the risk of Hg uptake in crops,and further affecting human health.This study will provide a scientific basis for the control and management of heavy metals in farmland soils of mining areas.

Warming effects on plant biomass allocation and correlations with the soil environment in an alpine meadow,China

Alpine meadow ecosystem is fragile and highly sensitive to climate change.An understanding of the allocation of above-and below-ground plant biomass and correlations with environmental factors in alpine meadow ecosystem can result in better protection and effective utilization of alpine meadow vegetation.We chose an alpine meadow in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau of China as the study area and designed experimental warming plots using a randomized block experimental design.We used single-tube infrared radiators as warming devices,established the warming treatments,and measured plant above- （AGB） and below-ground biomass （BGB） during the growing seasons （May to September） in 2012 and 2013.We determined the allocation of biomass and the relationship between biomass and soil environment under the warming treatment.Biomass indices including above-ground biomass,below-ground biomass and the ratio of root to shoot （R/S） ,and soil factors including soil moisture and soil temperature at different depths were measured.The results showed that （1） BGB of the alpine meadow had the most significant allometric correlation with its AGB （y=298.7x~ （0.44） ,P〈0.001） ,but the relationship decreased under warming treatment and the determination coefficient of the functional equation was 0.102 which was less than that of 0.188 of the unwarming treatment （control） ; （2） BGB increased,especially in the deeper soil layers under warming treatment （P〉0.05） .At 0–10 cm soil depth,the percentages of BGB under warming treatment were smaller than those of the control treatment with the decreases being 8.52% and 8.23% in 2012 and 2013,respectively.However,the BGB increased 2.13% and 2.06% in 2012 and 2013,respectively,at 10–50 cm soil depths; （3） BGB had significant positive correlations with soil moisture at 100 cm depth and with soil temperature at 20–100 cm depths （P〈0.05） ,but the mean correlation coefficient of soil temperature was 0.354,greater than the 0.245 of soil moisture.R/S ratio had a significant negative correlation with soil temperature at 20 cm depth （P〈0.05） .The warmer soil temperatures in shallow layers increased the biomass allocation to above-ground plant parts,which leading to the increase in AGB;whereas the enhanced thawing of frozen soil in deep layers causing by warming treatment produced more moisture that affected plant biomass allocation.

Graphene oxide influences bacterial community and soil environments of Cd-polluted Haplic Cambisols in Northeast China

Graphene oxide(GO),a carbon nanomaterial that is widely used in the environment and other industries,may pose potential risks to ecosystems,especially the soil ecosystem.Some soils in Northeast China are frequently polluted with cadmium(Cd) metal.However,there is no study on the influence of GO on the Cd-contaminated soil microbial community and soil chemical properties.In this study,Cd(100 mg kg^(-1))-polluted soils were treated with different concentrations of GO(0,25,50,150,250,and 500 mg L^(-1),expressed as T1,T2,T3,T4,T5,and T6,respectively) for 40 days.The treatment without Cd pollution and GO served as the control(CK).Then,we investigated the influence of the GO concentrations on the bacterial community and chemical properties of Cd-polluted Haplic Cambisols,the zonal soil in Northeast China.After GO addition,the richness and diversity indexes of the bacterial community in Cd-contaminated Haplic Cambisols initially increased by 0.05-33.92% at 25 mg L^(-1),then decreased by0.07-2.37% at 50 mg L^(-1),and then increased by 0.01-24.37%within 500 mg L^(-1) again.The species and abundance of bacteria varied with GO concentration,and GO significantly increased bacterial growth at 25 and 250 mg L^(-1).GO treatments influenced the bacterial community structure,and the order of similarity of the bacterial community structure was as follows:T4=T5> T1=T6> T2> T3> CK.Proteobacteria and Acidobacteria were the dominant bacteria,accounting for 36.0% and 26.2%,respectively,of soil bacteria.Different GO treatments also significantly affected the metabolic function of bacteria and further influenced the diversity of the bacterial community structure by affecting several key soil chemical properties:soil pH,organic matter and available potassium,phosphorus,and cadmium.Our results provide a theoretical basis for scientific and comprehensive evaluation of the environmental impacts of GO on the zonal forest soils of Northeast China.

Evaluation of Mine Geological Environment of Guqiao Coalmine

The geological environment is important for the development of coal enterprises. In the Guqiao coalmine, the information of coal mining subsidence, terrain landform, coal gangue utilization, mine water treatment and several on-site investigations have been analyzed. It holds that its geological environment can be evaluated from three aspects, i.e., geological disasters, terrain and landform destruction, and influence on water and soil environment. The results show that mining activities have serious impacts on geological disasters and terrain landform, while lighter impacts on the water and soil environment. According to the research results, a set of corresponding governance strategies are given. The findings can provide theoretical support for the geological environmental protection and restoration of the Guqiao coalmine.

REGIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF ENVIRONMENTAL CAPACITY FOR HEAVY METALS IN SIEROZEM ZONE AND ITS RELATION TO PHYSICALGEOGRAPHIC PROCESSES

Soil environmental capacity is defined as the maximumpermitted load of the pollutant in a cettain soil environmental unitwithin a certain temporal period. With that load, the criteria canbe maintained, production and quality of crops can be gqaranteed.Regional soil capacity is the function of physical geographiccharacteristics. In determining capacity of sierozem, key stepsinclude: (1) establishing the criteria on comprehensive basis, (2)calculating the permitted input with the application of the capacitymodel. Dynamic capacity of Cd, Cu, As and Pb for sierozem isreported and compared with that of phaiozem and red 1oam.According to the results, it is obvious that regional differentiationin capacity is distinct and the distribution pattern of permittedload is closely related to the spacial variation of physicalgeographic processes.

Progress of Mid Infrared Spectroscopy in Soil Environment Research

Soil is the basis of agricultural and forestry production,and it is of great significance to obtain soil information efficiently and comprehensively for soil management.Due to the complexity of soil organic components,it is difficult to obtain the information of soil organic components comprehensively by traditional chemical analysis method.As a non-destructive,real-time and high-throughput analysis method,mid infrared spectroscopy(MIR)has the ability to obtain soil organic environmental information efficiently and accurately.It can provide a large number of basic data for soil environmental monitoring,digital mapping,agricultural and forestry production,and help to realize the real-time monitoring of soil environment and the informatization of agriculture and forestry.In this paper,the detection process of MIR obtaining soil environmental spectral information and processing methods of spectral data were briefly introduced,and the research progress on extraction and influencing factors of mid infrared spectrum characteristics of soil in recent years was reviewed.Moreover,the significance and future development direction of soil science for the technology were discussed.

Environmental geochemical features of arsenic in soil in China

ＥｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔａｌｇｅｏｃｈｅｍｉｃａｌｆｅａｔｕｒｅｓｏｆａｒｓｅｎｉｃｉｎｓｏｉｌｉｎＣｈｉｎａＷｅｎｇＨｕａｎｘｉｎ，ＬｉｕＹｕｎｆｅｎｇＤｅｐａｒｔｍｅｎｔｏｆＥａｒｔｈＳｃｉｅｎｃｅｓ，ＺｈｅｊｉａｎｇＵｎｉｖｅｒｓｉｔｙ，Ｈａｎｇ...

Changes in the root system of the herbaceous peony and soil properties under different years of continuous planting and replanting

The herbaceous peony(Paeonia lactiflora Pall.)has high ornamental value.Replanting problems occur when seedlings are replanted into previous holes.We studied the root system and soil environment of the'Dongjingnvlang'variety under a continuous planting regime of one,four,and seven years,and a replanting regime of one and four years.Under the condition of continuous planting,with the increase of number of years,pH,ammonium nitrogen,and nitrate nitrogen decreased in the rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere soils,whereas organic matter,available phosphorus and potassium,enzyme activities,and the number of bacteria,fungi,and actinomycetes increased.Under the condition of replanting,with the increase of number of years,fungi and actinomycetes in both soils increased,while pH,organic matter,nutrients,enzyme activities,and bacterial number decreased.pH,organic matter,nutrient content,enzyme activity and the number of bacterial were lower in soil replanted for four years,whereas the abundance of fungi and actinomycetes was higher,altering the soil from“bacterial high-fertility”to“fungal low-fertility”with increasing years of replanting.The activity of antioxidant enzymes and MDA content in roots of peony in replanting were higher than those in continuous planting,while the content of osmotic regulatory substances in replanting was lower than that in continuous planting.The results showed that there were no obvious adverse factors in soil during seven years of continuous planting,and herbaceous peony could maintain normal growth and development.However,soils after four years of replanting were not suitable for herbaceous peony growth.Benzoic acid increased with years of replanting,which potentially caused replanting problems.This study provides a theoretical basis for understanding the mechanism of replanting problems in the herbaceous peony.

Requirements and Safeguard Measures for Using Soil Fertilizer in Organic Agriculture:A Case Study of Fushun City in Liaoning Province

This paper summarized the requirements of organic agriculture for soil environment,fertilizer application and irrigation water quality,put forward safeguard measures for organic agriculture in terms of soil,fertilizer and water,and finally came up with recommendations for strengthening the use of soil fertilizers in organic agriculture.

Rhizosphere Soil Fungal Diversity and Soil Physicochemical Properties of Different Vegetations in Tundra of Changbai Mountain

By studying the diversity and community structure of rhizosphere soil fungi of different plants in the tundra on the northern slope of Changbai Mountain, it provides theoretical support for the restoration of environmental degradation and in-depth study of fungal diversity in the tundra of Changbai Mountain. High-throughput sequencing technology was used to determine the ITS1 region of fungal amplicons, so as to analyze the diversity of fungal communities in the rhizosphere soil of six plants in the tundra of Changbai Mountain, and to analyze the correlation between the environment and the diversity and richness of fungal communities in combination with relevant soil physical and chemical factors. The diversity and richness of fungal community in the rhizosphere soil of six plants in Changbai Mountain tundra were different. The Simpson and Shannon indexes of Saxifraga stolonifera Curt were the highest, and the richness of fungal community in Dryas octopetala was the highest. The analysis of fungal community composition showed that the fungal colonies in plant rhizosphere soil samples mainly belonged to Ascomycota and Basidiomycota, which were the main dominant phyla. Mortierella, Fusarium and Sordariomycetes are common fungal genera in the rhizosphere soil of six plants, but their abundances are different among different plants. Water content was negatively correlated with fungal diversity, and TP was positively correlated with fungal community diversity. There were some differences in the composition and diversity of rhizosphere soil fungal communities of six plants in Changbai Mountain tundra. Ascomycota and Basidiomycota were the main soil fungal phyla in the rhizosphere of six plants in Changbai Mountain tundra. The results could provide theoretical guidance for ecological protection of Changbai Mountain tundra.

Investigating the Effects of Greenhouse Vegetable Cultivation on Soil Fertility in Lhasa, Tibetan Plateau

The area of land utilized for growing vegetables in greenhouses has expanded rapidly on the Tibetan Plateau over recent decades. However, the effects of greenhouses on soil fertility as well as variations in these effects between the plateau and plain remain unclear on the Tibetan Plateau. This study assessed the effects of vegetable greenhouses in the vicinity of Lhasa, using open field soil as a control. A total of 92 plough layer(0-20 cm depth) soil samples including 54 from greenhouses and 38 from open fields were taken, and soil pH, electrical conductivity(EC), total soluble salt(TS), soil organic matter(SOM), total nitrogen(TN), available phosphorus(AP), and available potassium(AK) were measured. The results reveal that, soil pH was lower 1.0 units in greenhouses than that in open field. TS was higher 82% and AP was higher 160% overall. Similarly, SOM and TN were higher 32% and 46%, respectively, while AK changed slightly at a higher 1% rate. Results also show that soil properties varied depending on cultivation time and vegetable types. Overall, pH continuously decreased with cultivation time while other soil fertility indicators reached a maximum value after nine years of cultivation before starting to decrease. The effect of leafy vegetable planting on soil was slight overall, while the impact of fruits on soil was more serious. Compared with changes in plain greenhouse soil fertility measured across the eastern China, the effects of greenhouses on soil in Lhasa remain relatively limited;and the change in the degree of soil fertility was lower and the extreme values of soil fertility occurred later in Lhasa.

Identifying the influence of urbanization on soil organic matter content and p H from soil magnetic characteristics

Soil magnetic characteristics are correlated with soil p H and organic matter content. Analyzing soil magnetic characteristics, organic matter content and p H can indirectly evaluate soil pollution caused by human activities. This study analyzed the soil magnetic characteristics, organic matter content and p H in surface soil samples from different land use types in Shihezi city, a newly and rapidly developing oasis city in Xinjiang of China. The aims of this study were to explore the possible relationships among the soil magnetic parameters and thereby improve the understanding of influence of urbanization on soil properties. Eighty surface soil samples at the depth of 0–10 cm were collected from 29 July to 4 August 2013. The results showed that the magnetic minerals in surface soil were dominated by ferromagnetic minerals. Spatially, the magnetic susceptibility（χLF）, anhysteretic remanent magnetization susceptibility（χARM）, saturation isothermal remanent magnetization（SIRM） and ＂soft＂ isothermal remanent magnetization（SOFT） were found to be most dominant in the new northern urban area B（N-B）, followed by built-up areas（U）, suburban agricultural land（F）, and then the new northern urban area A（N-A）. The values of χLF, χARM, SIRM and SOFT were higher in the areas with high intensities of human activities and around the main roads. Meanwhile, the property ＂hard＂ isothermal remanent magnetization（HIRM） followed the order of U〉N-B〉F〉N-A. Built-up areas had an average p H value of 7.93, which was much higher than that in the new northern urban areas as well as in suburban agricultural land, due to the increased urban pollutant emissions. The average value of soil organic matter content in the whole study area was 34.69 g/kg, and the values in the new northern urban areas were much higher than those in the suburban agricultural land and built-up areas. For suburban agricultural land, soil organic matter content was significantly negatively correlated with χLF, and had no correlation with other magnetic parameters, since the soil was frequently ploughed. In the new northern urban areas（N-A and N-B）, there were significant positive correlations of soil organic matter contents with χARM, SIRM, SOFT and HIRM, because natural grasslands were not frequently turned over. For the built-up areas, soil organic matter contents were significantly positively correlated with χLF, χARM, SIRM and SOFT, but not significantly correlated with frequency-dependent susceptibility（χFD, expressed as a percentage） and HIRM, because the soil was not frequently turned over or influenced by human activities. The results showed that soil magnetic characteristics are related to the soil turnover time.