Multifractal characteristics of soil particle size distribution of abandoned homestead reclamation under different forest management modes

Tingting Meng; Jichang Han; Yang Zhang; Yingying Sun; Zhe Liu; Ruiqing Zhang

doi:10.1038/s41598-024-59466-w

Multifractal characteristics of soil particle size distribution of abandoned homestead reclamation under different forest management modes

Sci Rep. 2024 Apr 17;14(1):8864. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-59466-w.

Authors

Tingting Meng^{1

2

3

4

5

6}, Jichang Han^{7

8

9

10

11

12}, Yang Zhang^{1

2

3

4

5

6}, Yingying Sun^{1

2

3

4

5

6}, Zhe Liu^{1

2

3

4

5

6}, Ruiqing Zhang^{1

2

3

4

5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Shaanxi Provincial Land Engineering Construction Group Co., Ltd, Xi'an, China.
² Institute of Land Engineering and Technology, Shaanxi Provincial Land Engineering Construction Group Co., Ltd., Xi'an, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Degraded and Unused Land Consolidation Engineering, Ministry of Natural Resources, Xi'an, China.
⁴ Shaanxi Engineering Research Center of Land Consolidation, Xi'an, China.
⁵ Land Engineering Technology Innovation Center, Ministry of Natural Resources, Xi'an, China.
⁶ Key Laboratory of Cultivated Land Quality Monitoring and Conservation, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Xi'an, China.
⁷ Shaanxi Provincial Land Engineering Construction Group Co., Ltd, Xi'an, China. hanjc_sxdj@126.com.
⁸ Institute of Land Engineering and Technology, Shaanxi Provincial Land Engineering Construction Group Co., Ltd., Xi'an, China. hanjc_sxdj@126.com.
⁹ Key Laboratory of Degraded and Unused Land Consolidation Engineering, Ministry of Natural Resources, Xi'an, China. hanjc_sxdj@126.com.
¹⁰ Shaanxi Engineering Research Center of Land Consolidation, Xi'an, China. hanjc_sxdj@126.com.
¹¹ Land Engineering Technology Innovation Center, Ministry of Natural Resources, Xi'an, China. hanjc_sxdj@126.com.
¹² Key Laboratory of Cultivated Land Quality Monitoring and Conservation, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Xi'an, China. hanjc_sxdj@126.com.

Abstract

In this study, fast-growing poplar reclaimed from abandoned homestead in Xixian New District, Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province, was used as the research object to explore the multi-fractal characteristics of soil particle size distribution under different management modes of abandoned land (control), irrigation, fertilizer irrigation and mixed fertilizer irrigation. The results showed that the mean values of soil clay, silt and sand in abandoned land were 14.58%, 81.21% and 4.22% respectively, 14.08%, 79.92% and 5.99% under irrigation, 15.17%, 81.19% and 3.64% under fertilizer irrigation, and 16.75%, 80.20% and 3.05% in mixed fertilizer treatment. From 40 cm, with increasing soil depth, soil clay particles increase under irrigation, fertilizer irrigation, and mixed fertilizer irrigation modes. The single fractal dimension of soil particle size distribution (D) in each treatment ranges from 2.721 to 2.808. At 60-100 cm, D shows fertilizer irrigation > mixed fertilizer irrigation > irrigation > abandoned land, indicating that fertilization and irrigation can increase the fine-grained matter of deep soil particles and reduce soil roughness. Compared with abandoned land, under irrigation, fertilizer irrigation and mixed fertilizer modes the capacity dimension (D₀), entropy dimension (D₁), correlation dimension(D₂), shape characteristics of the multifractal spectrum (Δf) and overall inhomogeneity of the soil particle size distribution (D₀-D₁₀) indicate an uneven distribution of soil particle size; fractal structure characteristics of soil (D_-10-D₀) indicate a simplified soil structure, and degree of dispersion of soil particle size distribution (D₁/D₀) indicates that soil particle size is distributed in dense areas. Pearson correlation analysis showed that D was significantly correlated with clay, sand, D₀-D₁₀, soil organic matter (SOM) and soil available phosphorus (SAP) (P < 0.05). Stepwise regression analysis showed that clay was the main controlling factor of D and D₀-D₁₀ changes. The research results can provide some potential indicators for the quality evaluation of abandoned homestead reclamation.

Keywords: Forest management mode; Homestead reclamation; Multifractal dimension; Single fractal; Soil particle composition; Soil particle-size distribution.