Soil nitrogen and phosphorus influence physical, chemical, and biological processes in soil, therefore, clarifying their contents and spatial patterns is of great significance for soil resource management and utilization. The spatial patterns of soil total nitrogen (TN) and phosphorus (TP) and the influencing factors in Jungar Banner were studied using classical statistical and geostatistical methods. The results showed that soil TN and TP contents decreased with soil depth, and the weighted mean values of TN and TP were 0.29 g·kg-1 and 0.26 g·kg-1, respectively. The nugget effect values of soil TN and TP were concentrated in the ranges 0.15-0.43 and 0.34-0.53, respectively, indicating that soil TN (except in the 0-10 cm and 80-100 cm zones) and TP were moderately spatially dependent, dominated by structural and random factors. The spatial distributions of soil nutrients were related to soil layers and elements, even in same layer, while the distributions of TN and TP were not consistent. Soil total nitrogen was mainly affected by soil organic carbon, while TP was mainly affected by latitude, altitude, vegetation, and soil texture.
Keywords: agro-pastoral transitional zone; land use type; soil nitrogen and phosphorus; soil textures; spatial distribution.