Soil Components Affecting Phosphate Sorption Parameters of Acid Paddy Soils in Guangdong Province

Soil components affecting phosphate sorption parameters were studied using acid paddy soils derived from basalt, granite, sand-shale and the Pearl River Delta sediments, respectively, in Guangdong Province. For each soil, seven 2.50 g subsamples were equilibrated with 50 mL 0.02 mol L-1 (pH=7.0) of KCI containing 0, 5, 10, 15, 25, 50 and 100 mg P kg-1, respectively, in order to derive P sorption parameters (P sorption maximum, P sorption intensity factor and maximum buffer capacity) by Langmuir isotherm equation. It was shown that the main soil components influencing phosphate sorption maximum (Xm) included soil clay, PH, amorphous iron oxide (Feo) and amorphous aluminum oxide (Alo), with their effects in the order of Alo > Feo > pH > clay. Among these components, pH had a negative effect, and the others had a positive effect. Organic matter (OM) was the only soil component influencing P sorption intensity factor (K). The main components influencing maximum phosphate buffer capacity (MBC) consisted of soil clay, OM,pH, Feo and Alo, with their effects in the order of Alo > OM > pH > Feo > clay. Path analysis indicated that among the components with positive effects on maximum phosphate buffer capacity (MBC), the effect was in the order of Alo > Feo > Clay, while among the components with negative effects, OM > pH. OM played an important role in mobilizing phosphate in acid paddy soils mainly through decreasing the sorption immensity of phosphate by soil particles.

Spatial Heterogeneity of Soil Mineral Oxide Components in Depression Between Karst Hills,Southwest China

In karst regions,the spatial heterogeneity of soil mineral oxides and environmental variables is still not clear.We investigated the spatial heterogeneity of SiO2,Al2O3,Fe2O3,CaO,MgO,P2O5,K2O,and MnO contents in the soils of slope land,plantation forest,secondary forest,and primary forest,as well as their relationships with environmental variables in a karst region of Southwest China.Geostatistics,principal component analysis(PCA),and canonical correlation analysis(CCA)were applied to analyze the field data.The results show that SiO2was the predominant mineral in the soils(45.02%–67.33%),followed by Al2O3and Fe2O3.Most soil mineral oxide components had a strong spatial dependence,except for CaO,MgO,and P2O5in the plantation forest,MgO and P2O5in the secondary forest,and CaO in the slope land.Dimensionality reduction in PCA was not appropriate due to the strong spatial heterogeneity in the ecosystems.Soil mineral oxide components,the main factors in all ecosystems,had greater influences on vegetation than those of conventional soil properties.There were close relationships between soil mineral oxide components and vegetation,topography,and conventional soil properties.Mineral oxide components affected species diversity,organic matter and nitrogen levels.

Effects of soil organic matter components and iron aluminum oxides on aggregate stability during vegetation succession in granite red soil eroded areas

Soil aggregates determine the basic structure of soil,and their composition and stability are influenced by the various types of cementitious substances occurring in soil.To explore the main limiting factors of soil aggregation in the process of vegetation succession with granite as the parent material,five stages of vegetation succession in an eroded area were selected:bare land(BL),grassland(GL),grassland shrub transition land(GS),shrubland(SL)and secondary forest(SF).Soil samples were collected to determine the composition and stability of aggregates.The contents of organic and inorganic cementitious substances,including organic matter components and iron aluminum oxides,were determined at five soil aggregate grain levels.The results indicated that the stability of soil aggregates and the>0.25 mm water-stable aggregate content(WR_(0.25))increased with vegetation succession.Based on the Le Bissonnais(LB)method,the mean weight diameter(MWD)of soil aggregates increased,and the relative dissipation index(RSI)and relative mechanical crushing index(RMI)decreased.The humic acid(HA)and fulvic acid(FA)contents in soil aggregates increased with vegetation succession,and the soil humus content at the SF stage increased by more than 13.54%over the BL level.Upon different vegetation succession stage,the iron and aluminum oxides for the SL and the SF were at a high level,and the contents of free-form iron oxide(Fe_(d))and amorphous iron oxide(Fe_(o))for BL were high.Correlation analysis indicated that the soil humic degree(PQ)and the contents of amorphous alumina(Al_(o))were positively correlated with aggregate stability to varying degrees.Redundancy analysis(RDA)revealed that PQ values of 1-2 mm(PQ_(2))and 0.25-0.5 mm(PQ_(4))aggregates,the contents of Fe_(o) of bulk soil(Fe_(oB)),>2 mm(Fe_(o1)),1-2 mm(Fe_(o2)),and<0.25 mm(Fe_(o5))aggregates,and the contents of Al_(o) of>2 mm(Al_(o1))aggregates could explain 99.4%of the changes in soil aggregate stability at different vegetation succession stages.Al_(o1) had a contribution rate of 71.2%and is the key factor for improving the stability of soil aggregates.

Hyper-spectral characteristics and classification of farmland soil in northeast of China

The physical and chemical heterogeneities of soils make the soil spectral different and complicated, and it is valuable to increase the accuracy of prediction models for soil organic matter（SOM） based on pre-classification. This experiment was conducted under a controllable environment, and different soil samples from northeast of China were measured using ASD2500 hyperspectral instrument. The results showed that there are different reflectances in different soil types. There are statistically significant correlation between SOM and reflectence at 0.05 and 0.01 levels in 550–850 nm, and all soil types get significant at 0.01 level in 650–750 nm. The results indicated that soil types of the northeast can be divided into three categories： The first category shows relatively flat and low reflectance in the entire band; the second shows that the spectral reflectance curve raises fastest in 460–610 nm band, the sharp increase in the slope, but uneven slope changes; the third category slowly uplifts in the visible band, and its slope in the visible band is obviously higher than the first category. Except for the classification by curve shapes of reflectance, principal component analysis is one more effective method to classify soil types. The first principal component includes 62.13–97.19% of spectral information and it mainly relates to the information in 560–600, 630–690 and 690–760 nm. The second mainly represents spectral information in 1 640–1 740, 2 050–2 120 and 2 200–2 300 nm. The samples with high OM are often in the left, and the others with low OM are in the right of the scatter plot（the first principal component is the horizontal axis and the second is the longitudinal axis）. Soil types in northeast of China can be classified effectively by those two principles; it is also a valuable reference to other soil in other areas.

Effects of tillage on soil nitrogen and its components from rice-wheat fields in subtropical regions of China

It is of great significance to explore the effects of different tillage practices on total nitrogen and its components in rice-wheat rotation farmland.The experiment was carried out in Jiangyan County,Jiangsu Province of China,and a total of four treatments were set up:minimum tillage(MT),rotary tillage(RT),conventional tillage(CT),and conventional tillage without straw retention(CT0).The total nitrogen(TN),light fraction nitrogen(LFN),heavy fraction nitrogen(HFN),particulate nitrogen(PN),and mineral-associated nitrogen(MN)in 0-20 cm soil were determined.The results show that MT increased TN concentration by2.26%-27.57%compared with the other treatments in 0-5 cm soil,but it lost this advantage in 5-10 cm and 10-20 cm soil.MT altered the concentration of LFN by 6.03%-95.86%,of HFN by 1.68%-20.75%,of PN by 12.58%-96.83%,and of MN by−1.73%-9.83%as compared to RT,CT,and CT0 in 0-5 cm soil,respectively.With the deepened of soil depth,the concentration of TN,LFN,HFN,PN,and MN decreased quickly in MT,which was lower than that in RT and CT at 10-20 cm soil depth.Straw return increased the concentration of TN and its components in 0-20 cm soil.The concentration of TN was extremely significantly positively correlated with that of LFN,HFN,PN,and MN(p<0.01).The variation of TN was significantly positively correlated with that of LFN,HFN,PN,and MN(p<0.01),and LFN showed the highest sensitivity to tillage practice.In general,minimum tillage combined with straw retention increased the concentration of soil TN and its components in topsoil.LFN was the best indicator to indicate the change in soil total nitrogen affected by tillage practice.

Five-year warming does not change soil organic carbon stock but alters its chemical composition in an alpine peatland

Climate warming may promote soil organic carbon(SOC)decomposition and alter SOC stocks in terrestrial ecosystems,which would in turn affect climate warming.We manipulated a warming experiment using open-top chambers to investigate the effect of warming on SOC stock and chemical composition in an alpine peatland in Zoigêon the eastern Tibetan Plateau,China.Results showed that 5 years of warming soil temperatures enhanced ecosystem respiration during the growing season,promoted above-and belowground plant biomass,but did not alter the SOC stock.However,labile O-alkyl C and relatively recalcitrant aromatic C contents decreased,and alkyl C content increased.Warming also increased the amount of SOC stored in the silt-clay fraction(<0.053 mm),but this was offset by warming-induced decreases in the SOC stored within micro-and macroaggregates(0.053–0.25 and>0.25 mm,respectively).These changes in labile and recalcitrant C were largely associated with warming-induced increases in soil microbial biomass C,fungal diversity,enzyme activity,and functional gene abundance related to the decomposition of labile and recalcitrant C compounds.The warming-induced accumulation of SOC stored in the silt-clay fraction could increase SOC persistence in alpine peatland ecosystems.Our findings suggest that mechanisms mediated by soil microbes account for the changes in SOC chemical composition and SOC in different aggregate size fractions,which is of great significance when evaluating SOC stability under climate warming conditions.

Environmental behavior of engineered biochars and their aging processes in soil

In recent years,due to the broad application of biochars,the preparation,environmental behavior and aging processes of biochars have attracted wide attention globally,especially the modification of biochars.However,most of the studies only consider the improvement of biochar properties right after the modification,but neglect a complete evaluation of the long-term stability and eco-toxicity of these newly developed materials after entering the environment.With the development and utilization of biochars,engineered biochars(EngBCs)will soon enter the market,but its environmental risk still remains unclear.The literature does not provide adequate information on how aging of EngBCs will affect their properties,and indirectly impact the properties of soils(cycle of elements and organic matter).Therefore,this review paper summarizes the aging process and environmental risk of biochars,aiming at better understanding the interactions between EngBCs and soil components or pollutants.More importantly,this review is to point out the contradictory speculations of environmental behavior of EngBCs studied at the present stage.Due to the modification,the EngBCs stability may be significantly reduced.However,the formation of functional group on EngBCs will enhance their interaction with soil minerals to form biochars-mineral complex,and thus EngBCs could be protected.The impacts of EngBCs after entering the environment are also ambiguous.Therefore,understanding EngBCs environmental behavior is critical,which is helpful to reduce the potential risk and to produce EngBCs following the rule of sustainable development and safety to the environment.

Characteristics and Source Identification of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Urban Soils： A Review

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons （PAHs） are mainly produced by combustion processes and consist of a number of toxic com- pounds. They are always emitted as a mixture and have become a major type of pollutants in urban areas. The degree of soil contamination by PAHs is of special concern in areas immediately in proximity to cities with heavy traffic, factories, older buildings, and infrastructure. The accumulation of soil PAHs is also affected by non-anthropogenie factors, such as climate, vegetation, and soil property. This paper reviews three typical source identification techniques, including diagnostic ratios, positive matrix factorization, and principle components analysis. The advantages or disadvantages of these techniques are analyzed. It is recommended that multiple identification techniques be used to determine the sources in order to minimize the weaknesses inherent in each method and thereby to strengthen the conclusions for PAH source identification.