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Spatial heterogeneity of soil moisture, microbial biomass carbon and soil respiration at stand scale of an arid scrubland

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Abstract

Studying the influence of plants on soil biological variables in an arid zone is important to the understanding of soil processes and relationships between above and below ground. The objective of this study was to quantify the pattern and degree of soil heterogeneity for soil moisture and its relationship with microbial biomass carbon and soil respiration using geostatistical techniques at stand scale of an arid scrubland. The experiment was conducted in a scrubland landscape using a 2 × 2 m grid within a 16 × 14 m plot in the lower reach of Sangong River watershed in Xinjiang, northwest China. The results revealed the following: (1) Soil moisture and soil microbial biomass carbon had moderate spatial variation, but soil respiration had strong variation. Spatial variability of soil moisture in the study plot decreased when soil moisture changed from wet in April to dry in June. In addition, correlations of soil moisture with microbial biomass carbon and soil respiration were positive and significant (p < 0.005). (2) Variation of soil microbial biomass carbon and soil moisture had a strong spatial autocorrelation in the study plot, mainly induced by structural factors, and the spatial autocorrelation of microbial biomass carbon and soil respiration was mainly determined by soil moisture. (3) The location of the high-value positions of soil moisture, soil microbial biomass carbon and soil respiration were clearly around the positions of scrubs in the study plot. Such information provided some insights to explain the spatial heterogeneity of soil properties at stand scale in an arid region.

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Acknowledgments

We thank all staff at Fukang Station of Desert Ecology for technical and field help. Financial support is from the 973 Program of China (No. 2009CB825102), the Knowledge Innovation Program of the CAS (KZCX2-EW-QN 316) and International Science & Technology Cooperation Program of China (2010DFA92720).

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  1. State Key Lab of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 818 South Beijing Road, Xinjiang, 830011, People’s Republic of China

    Yu-gang Wang, Hong Zhu & Yan Li

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  1. Yu-gang Wang
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  2. Hong Zhu
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  3. Yan Li
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Correspondence to Yan Li.

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Wang, Yg., Zhu, H. & Li, Y. Spatial heterogeneity of soil moisture, microbial biomass carbon and soil respiration at stand scale of an arid scrubland. Environ Earth Sci 70, 3217–3224 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-013-2386-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-013-2386-z

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