Superior improvement on soil quality by Pennisetum sinese vegetation restoration in the dry-hot valley region, SW China

Renping Wan; Deyi Luo; Jianyi Liu; Yan Zhang; Yongqi Xiang; Wang Yan; Yujie Xie; Jiaxuan Mi; Fan Zhang; Xueqin Wan; Lianghua Chen; Jian Zhang; Xingyan Huang; Yu Zhong

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163185

Superior improvement on soil quality by Pennisetum sinese vegetation restoration in the dry-hot valley region, SW China

Sci Total Environ. 2023 Jun 20:878:163185. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163185. Epub 2023 Mar 31.

Authors

Renping Wan¹, Deyi Luo², Jianyi Liu³, Yan Zhang³, Yongqi Xiang⁴, Wang Yan³, Yujie Xie³, Jiaxuan Mi³, Fan Zhang⁵, Xueqin Wan⁶, Lianghua Chen⁷, Jian Zhang⁶, Xingyan Huang⁸, Yu Zhong⁹

Affiliations

¹ College of Forestry, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China. Electronic address: 2020204005@stu.sicau.edu.cn.
² College of Forestry, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China; Meitan County Forestry Bureau of Guizhou Province, Zunyi 564100, China.
³ College of Forestry, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China.
⁴ College of Forestry, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China. Electronic address: 2018304029@stu.sicau.edu.cn.
⁵ College of Landscape Architecture, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China.
⁶ College of Forestry, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China; National Forestry and Grassland Administration Key Laboratory of Forest Resources Conservation and Ecological Safety on the Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River & Forestry Ecological Engineering in the Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu 611130, China.
⁷ College of Forestry, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China; National Forestry and Grassland Administration Key Laboratory of Forest Resources Conservation and Ecological Safety on the Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River & Forestry Ecological Engineering in the Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu 611130, China. Electronic address: chenlh@sicau.edu.cn.
⁸ College of Forestry, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China; National Forestry and Grassland Administration Key Laboratory of Forest Resources Conservation and Ecological Safety on the Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River & Forestry Ecological Engineering in the Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu 611130, China. Electronic address: hxy@sicau.edu.cn.
⁹ College of Forestry, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China; National Forestry and Grassland Administration Key Laboratory of Forest Resources Conservation and Ecological Safety on the Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River & Forestry Ecological Engineering in the Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu 611130, China. Electronic address: zhongyu315@163.com.

PMID: 37004763
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163185

Abstract

Vegetation restoration is a good way to improve soil quality and reduce erosion. However, the impact of vegetation restoration on soil quality in the dry-hot valley region has been overlooked for many years. This study aimed to reveal the effects of Pennisetum sinese (PS) and natural vegetation (NV) on soil quality and then to explore the feasibility of introducing PS for the vegetation restoration of the dry-hot valley region. The PS and NV restoration areas deserted land evolving from cultivated land (CL) have been established since 2011. The results showed that the soil properties were obviously improved by PS from the dry to wet seasons, except for the soil available phosphorous. The comprehensive soil quality indexes of the three typical seasons (dry, dry-wet, and wet) were determined by using nonlinear weighted additive (NLWA) based on the total dataset, significant dataset and minimum dataset (MDS). The results indicated that the comprehensive minimum dataset soil quality index (MDS-SQI) of the three typical seasons evaluate soil quality well. The soil quality of PS was significantly greater than that of CL and NV (P < 0.05), as shown by the MDS-SQI. Additionally, PS could maintain a stable soil quality in the three typical seasons, while both CL and NV had obvious fluctuations. In addition, the result of the generalized linear mode suggested that the vegetation type had the greatest impact on the soil quality (44.51 %). Comprehensively, vegetation restoration in the dry-hot valley region has a positive impact on the soil properties and quality. PS is a great candidate species for the early vegetation restoration in the dry-hot valley region. This work provides a reference for vegetation restoration and rational utilization of soil resources in degraded ecosystems in dry-hot valleys and other soil erosion areas.

Keywords: Dry-hot valley; Pennisetum sinese; Soil quality index; Typical season; Vegetation restoration.