Spatial Properties of Soil Physical Quality Index S in Black Soil Croplands under Permanent Gully Erosion

Yangbo He (), Xingsheng Song, Xinyue Li, Yuhao Gao, Jingde Yang, Junxi Chen, Jiazhou Chen and Chongfa Cai
Additional contact information
Yangbo He: Key Laboratory of Arable Land Conservation (Middle and Lower Reaches of Yangtze River) of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Resources and Environment, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
Xingsheng Song: Key Laboratory of Arable Land Conservation (Middle and Lower Reaches of Yangtze River) of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Resources and Environment, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
Xinyue Li: Key Laboratory of Arable Land Conservation (Middle and Lower Reaches of Yangtze River) of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Resources and Environment, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
Yuhao Gao: Key Laboratory of Arable Land Conservation (Middle and Lower Reaches of Yangtze River) of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Resources and Environment, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
Jingde Yang: Key Laboratory of Arable Land Conservation (Middle and Lower Reaches of Yangtze River) of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Resources and Environment, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
Junxi Chen: Key Laboratory of Arable Land Conservation (Middle and Lower Reaches of Yangtze River) of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Resources and Environment, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
Jiazhou Chen: Key Laboratory of Arable Land Conservation (Middle and Lower Reaches of Yangtze River) of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Resources and Environment, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
Chongfa Cai: Key Laboratory of Arable Land Conservation (Middle and Lower Reaches of Yangtze River) of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Resources and Environment, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China

Land, 2023, vol. 12, issue 9, 1-12

Abstract: Soil physical quality (SPQ) is a limiting factor affecting crop production. However, the impact of gully erosion on the SPQ index S, defined by Dexter as the inflection point of the soil water retention curve (SWRC), remains unclear, especially when considering different latitudinal regions. This study aimed to apply Dexter’s S-theory to evaluate the distribution of index S in black soils adjacent to various gully positions and investigate its relationship with bulk density (Bd), soil organic matter (SOM), and particle percentage. Soil properties (SWRC, Bd, SOM, and particle percentage) from nine gullies in croplands in three latitudinal regions (Harbin, Hailun, and Nenjiang in Heilongjiang province) were determined at the gully edge (GE 0 ) and 50 m beyond the edge into the croplands (GE 50 ) at the following gully units: head, mid-upper, middle, mid-lower, tail, and conjunctions between main gully and gully branch. The S-index was calculated using parameters such as n , θ s , and θ r , with SWRC data fitted into the van Genuchten model. The results showed spatial variations in the S-index across latitudinal regions, with slightly higher S-values in Harbin than in Hailun and Nenjiang. The S-index also showed noticeable differences at GE 0 and GE 50 and at the junctions between the main gully and its branches. Approximately 51% of the samples at GE 0 and 28.2% of the samples at GE 50 had S-values below 0.035, which Dexter proposed as the boundary between good and poor SPQ, indicating a degradation of SPQ at the gully-surrounding areas. A decreased S-index in the gully vicinity was significantly ( p < 0.05) associated with increased bulk density (1.33 vs. 1.21 g cm −3 for GE 0 and GE 50 ) and decreased SOM (36.80 vs. 39.36 g kg −1 for GE 0 and GE 50 ). In summary, this study indicates that gully erosion affects the farmland S-index at the gully-surrounding areas through SOM and Bd. Accordingly, measures suited to the increase in the S-index of the gully-surrounding areas may be implemented to maximize the crop yield of farmlands.

Keywords: soil quality index; spatial variation; gully vicinity; black soil; bulk density (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/9/1641/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/9/1641/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:12:y:2023:i:9:p:1641-:d:1222071

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().