Rights statement: This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Science of the Total Environment. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Science of the Total Environment, 740, 2020 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139904
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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Decadal shifts in soil pH and organic matter differ between land uses in contrasting regions in China
AU - Sun, Y.
AU - Guo, G.
AU - Shi, H.
AU - Liu, M.
AU - Keith, A.
AU - Li, H.
AU - Jones, K.C.
N1 - This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Science of the Total Environment. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Science of the Total Environment, 740, 2020 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139904
PY - 2020/10/20
Y1 - 2020/10/20
N2 - Soil organic matter (SOM) and pH are critical soil properties strongly linked to carbon storage, nutrient cycling and crop productivity. Land use is known to have a dominant impact on these key soil properties, but we often lack the ability to examine temporal trajectories across extensive spatial scales. Large-scale monitoring programmes provide the data to evaluate these longer-term changes, and under different climatic conditions. This study used data from Chinese soil surveys to examine changes in soil pH and SOM across different land uses (dry farmland, paddy fields, grassland, woodland, unused land), with surface soil (0–20 cm) collected in the periods 1985–90 (Survey 1; 890 samples) and 2006–10 (Survey 2; 5005 samples) from two contrasting areas. In the southern part of China the mean pH of paddy soils fell sharply over the two decades between surveys - from pH 5.81 to 5.19 (p < 0.001), while dry farmlands in the northern sampling area fell slightly (from pH 8.15 to 7.82; p < 0.001). The mean SOM content of dry farmland soil rose in both areas and the mean SOM of paddy fields in the southern area also rose (all p < 0.001). Woodland soil pH in the south showed an increase from 4.71 to 5.29 (p < 0.001) but no significant difference was measured in the woodlands of the northern area, although the trend increased. The SOM content of woodland top soils rose in the northern (p = 0.003) and southern (p < 0.001) study areas. The implications and potential causes of these changes over the two decade timespan between surveys are discussed and suggestions made as to how large scale soil sampling campaigns can be designed to monitor for changes and potential controlling factors.
AB - Soil organic matter (SOM) and pH are critical soil properties strongly linked to carbon storage, nutrient cycling and crop productivity. Land use is known to have a dominant impact on these key soil properties, but we often lack the ability to examine temporal trajectories across extensive spatial scales. Large-scale monitoring programmes provide the data to evaluate these longer-term changes, and under different climatic conditions. This study used data from Chinese soil surveys to examine changes in soil pH and SOM across different land uses (dry farmland, paddy fields, grassland, woodland, unused land), with surface soil (0–20 cm) collected in the periods 1985–90 (Survey 1; 890 samples) and 2006–10 (Survey 2; 5005 samples) from two contrasting areas. In the southern part of China the mean pH of paddy soils fell sharply over the two decades between surveys - from pH 5.81 to 5.19 (p < 0.001), while dry farmlands in the northern sampling area fell slightly (from pH 8.15 to 7.82; p < 0.001). The mean SOM content of dry farmland soil rose in both areas and the mean SOM of paddy fields in the southern area also rose (all p < 0.001). Woodland soil pH in the south showed an increase from 4.71 to 5.29 (p < 0.001) but no significant difference was measured in the woodlands of the northern area, although the trend increased. The SOM content of woodland top soils rose in the northern (p = 0.003) and southern (p < 0.001) study areas. The implications and potential causes of these changes over the two decade timespan between surveys are discussed and suggestions made as to how large scale soil sampling campaigns can be designed to monitor for changes and potential controlling factors.
KW - Agriculture
KW - Land use
KW - Paddy fields
KW - Soil change
KW - Soil surveys
KW - Woodland
KW - Biogeochemistry
KW - Digital storage
KW - Farms
KW - Forestry
KW - Organic compounds
KW - Carbon storage
KW - Climatic conditions
KW - Controlling factors
KW - Crop productivity
KW - Large-scale monitoring
KW - Nutrient cycling
KW - Soil organic matters
KW - Temporal trajectories
KW - Soils
KW - soil organic matter
KW - agriculture
KW - decadal variation
KW - land use
KW - paddy field
KW - pH
KW - soil survey
KW - woodland
KW - agricultural land
KW - Article
KW - carbon storage
KW - China
KW - crop production
KW - environmental monitoring
KW - forest
KW - geography
KW - nutrient cycling
KW - pH measurement
KW - priority journal
KW - soil acidity
KW - soil analysis
U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139904
DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139904
M3 - Journal article
VL - 740
JO - Science of the Total Environment
JF - Science of the Total Environment
SN - 0048-9697
M1 - 139904
ER -