Shrub Encroachment Shapes Soil Nutrient Concentration, Stoichiometry and Carbon Storage in an Abandoned Subalpine Grassland

Leilei Ding, Puchang Wang, Wen Zhang, Yu Zhang, Shige Li, Xin Wei, Xi Chen, Yujun Zhang and Fuli Yang
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Leilei Ding: Guizhou Institution of Prataculture, Guizhou Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guiyang 550006, China
Puchang Wang: Guizhou Institution of Prataculture, Guizhou Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guiyang 550006, China
Wen Zhang: Guizhou Institution of Prataculture, Guizhou Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guiyang 550006, China
Yu Zhang: Guizhou Institution of Prataculture, Guizhou Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guiyang 550006, China
Shige Li: Guizhou Institution of Prataculture, Guizhou Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guiyang 550006, China
Xin Wei: Guizhou Institution of Prataculture, Guizhou Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guiyang 550006, China
Xi Chen: Guizhou Institution of Prataculture, Guizhou Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guiyang 550006, China
Yujun Zhang: Guizhou Institution of Prataculture, Guizhou Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guiyang 550006, China
Fuli Yang: College of Animal Science, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550006, China

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 6, 1-17

Abstract: Soil nutrient stoichiometry plays a substantial role in terrestrial carbon and nutrient cycling. However, the changes in soil nutrient stoichiometry with shrub encroachment (SE) remain poorly understood, especially in subalpine areas. We examined the changes in soil nutrient concentration, nutrient stoichiometry, and organic carbon (OC) storage (at a depth of 0–5, 5–10 and 10–20 cm) in three successional shrub encroachment stages (early, mid and late) in an abandoned subalpine Eulalia pallens (Hackel) Kuntze grassland. An ANOVA showed that SE did not produce serious soil acidification, but significantly increased the soil OC and total phosphorous (TP) concentration, and improved the stoichiometry ratio of soil OC to total nitrogen (OC:TN) in all layers. OC storage tended to increase with SE. SE thus did not indicate degradation of the grassland. A redundancy analysis (RDA) and partial RDA revealed that the shrub relative cover and soil water content were the most important factors affecting the soil nutrient concentration, that the soil available phosphorous (AP), nitrogen, potassium, calcium (ACa), and magnesium concentration and shrub relative cover were the most important factors influencing soil nutrient stoichiometry ratios, and that soil OC:TN, TN:TP, OC:TN:TP, and AP:ACa ratios, bulk density, and pH were the most important factors influencing soil OC storage over SE. Our study provides insights into SE in grassland areas, and potentially provides a useful reference for ongoing grassland conservation and restoration in subalpine regions.

Keywords: space-for-time; succession; soil environment; redundancy analysis; relative importance; important factor (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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