Effects of Three Fertilizers on Improving Soil Characteristics and Growth Performance of Mahonia fortunei (Lindl.) Fedde in Rocky Desertification Areas

Xiuwen Fang, Yue Sun, Xiangxiang Huang, Bo Pan (), Haiying Gao and Zhishui Liang ()
Additional contact information
Xiuwen Fang: School of Civil Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China
Yue Sun: School of Civil Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China
Xiangxiang Huang: School of Civil Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China
Bo Pan: Academy of Forestry, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Nanning 530002, China
Haiying Gao: School of Civil Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China
Zhishui Liang: School of Civil Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China

Land, 2025, vol. 14, issue 5, 1-19

Abstract: Rocky desertification, a severe form of land degradation in tropical and subtropical regions driven by vegetation loss and soil erosion, poses significant ecological and economic challenges. Field trials in Fengshan County, Guangxi, China, evaluated the efficacy of NPK compound fertilizers, slow-release fertilizers, and bio-organic fertilizers on soil rehabilitation, microbial diversity, and the growth of Mahonia fortunei, a key species for ecological restoration and understory cash crop cultivation. The results demonstrated the bio-organic fertilizer’s superiority in soil regeneration, increasing organic matter by 30.4% (Bolin), 15.73% (Longlai), and 21.83% (Longlei) compared to NPK compound fertilizers, alongside elevating the total nitrogen (reaching 19.4 g/kg in Bolin) and phosphorus (85.45% higher in Bolin). Bio-organic fertilizer increased enzyme activities by 27–202% and enhanced microbial diversity, notably Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria. Slow-release fertilizers maximized micronutrient availability (e.g., Cu increased by 151.65% in Bolin) and improved plant growth, achieving peak Mahonia fortunei (Lindl.) Fedde height (3.62 cm, increasing 9.04%) and ground diameter (4.5 cm, increasing 18.42%) in Longlei compared to NPK compound fertilizers. Regional variability highlighted the bio-organic fertilizer’s dominance in soil fertility metrics, while slow-release formulations excelled in micronutrient enrichment and plant performance. NPK compound fertilizers exhibited the lowest efficacy, potentially exacerbating soil degradation. This study advocates integrating bio-organic fertilizers for soil regeneration with targeted slow-release applications for crop productivity, particularly in understory cash crop systems. Such a dual approach bridges ecological restoration with economic resilience in karst ecosystems, offering scalable solutions for global rocky desertification mitigation.

Keywords: NPK compound fertilizers; slow-release fertilizers; bio-organic fertilizers; soil nutrients; bacterial diversity; soil enzymes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/5/1090/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/5/1090/ (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:14:y:2025:i:5:p:1090-:d:1658162

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 ().