Abstract
Purpose
Soil acidification is a major issue in agricultural ecosystems. However, how agricultural land uses shape the soil pH pattern and affect soil acidification on a regional scale are still poorly understood. The research aims to investigate the influences of typical agricultural practices on soil acidification across different climate zones of eastern China.
Materials and methods
Soil samples were collected from 240 sites and 3 land uses per site (uplands, paddies, and adjacent woodlands) across four climate zones (mid-temperate, warm temperate, subtropical, and tropical regions) of eastern China. Soil pH was quantified for each soil samples. The mean annual temperature (MAT) and mean annual precipitation (MAP) at each site were also analyzed.
Results and discussion
Climate was significantly associated with soil acidification. The differences in soil pH between adjacent land use types ranged from 0.02 to 1.12, whereas those between climate zones ranged from 0.34 to 2.22. Alkaline soils (cooler climates) exhibited a stronger acidification pace than acidic soils (warmer climates). Uplands resulted in alarming decrease in soil pH by 1.12 units relative to adjacent woodlands in mid-temperate zone, which may be induced by the dramatic loss of soil carbon. Acidification of uplands was stronger than that of paddies, owing to higher soil nitrification and carbon mineralization. Croplands had higher soil pH than adjacent woodlands only in the subtropics, indicating that agricultural practices in this zone were effective to retard soil acidification.
Conclusion
We demonstrated, for the first time, the direction and intensity of the differences in soil pH levels among adjacent agricultural lands and woodlands depending on climate. As the two common agricultural croplands across eastern China, uplands have stronger acidification relative to paddies, particularly in the mid-temperate zone. Proper agricultural management practices to avoid carbon losses and preserve the flooding status of paddies should be considered to resist acidification of cropland soils.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bowman WD, Cleveland CC, Halada Ĺ, Hreško J, Baron JS (2008) Negative impact of nitrogen deposition on soil buffering capacity. Nat Geosci 1:767–770
Chen X, Hu Y, Xia Y, Zheng S, Ma C, Rui Y, He H, Huang D, Zhang Z, Ge T, Wu J, Guggenberger G, Kuzyakov Y, Su Y (2021) Contrasting pathways of carbon sequestration in paddy and upland soils. Glob Change Biol 27:2478–2490
Conyers MK, Davey BG (1988) Observations on some routine methods for soil pH determination. Soil Sci 145:29–36
Deng S, Zheng X, Chen X, Zheng S, He X, Ge T, Kuzyakov Y, Wu J, Su Y, Hu Y (2021) Divergent mineralization of hydrophilic and hydrophobic organic substrate and their priming effect in soils depending on their preferential utilization by bacteria and fungi. Biol Fert Soils 57:65–76
Ding C, Du S, Ma Y, Li X, Zhang T, Wang X (2019) Changes in the pH of paddy soils after flooding and drainage: modeling and validation. Geoderma 337:511–513
Goulding KWT (2019) Soil acidification and the importance of liming agricultural soils with particular reference to the United Kingdom. Soil Use Manag 32:390–399
Guo J, Liu X, Zhang Y, Shen J, Han W, Zhang W, Christie P, Goulding KWT, Vitousek PM, Zhang F (2010) Significant acidification in major Chinese croplands. Science 327:1008–1010
Kögel-Knabner I, Amelung W, Cao Z, Fiedler S, Frenzel P, Jahn R, Kalbitz K, Kölbl A, Schloter M (2010) Biogeochemistry of paddy soils. Geoderma 157:1–14
Li Y, Cui S, Chang S, Zhang Q (2019) Liming effects on soil pH and crop yield depend on lime material type, application method and rate, and crop species: a global meta-analysis. J Soil Sediment 19:1393–1406
Liu K, Fang Y, Yu F, Liu Q, Li F, Peng S (2010) Soil acidification in response to acid deposition in three Subtropical forests of subtropical China. Pedosphere 20:399–408
Raza S, Miao N, Wang P, Ju X, Chen Z, Zhou J, Kuzyakov Y (2020) Dramatic loss of inorganic carbon by nitrogen-induced soil acidification in Chinese croplands. Glob Change Biol 26:3738–3751
Sahrawat KL (2005) Fertility and organic matter in submerged rice soil. Curr Sci 88:735–739
Shi R, Liu Z, Li Y, Jiang T, Xu M, Li J, Xu R (2019) Mechanisms for increasing soil resistance to acidification by long-term manure application. Soil till Res 185:77–84
Wang H, Xu J, Liu X, Zhang D, Li L, Li W, Sheng L (2019) Effects of long-term application of organic fertilizer on improving organic matter content and retarding acidity in red soil from China. Soil till Res 195:104382
Xu D, Zhu Q, Ros G, Cai Z, Wen S, Xu M, Zhang F, de Vries W (2022) Calculation of spatially explicit amounts and intervals of agricultural lime applications at county-level in China. Sci Total Environ 806:150955
Xu R, Zhao A, Yuan J, Jiang J (2012) pH buffering capacity of acid soils from tropical and subtropical regions of China as influenced by incorporation of crop straw biochars. J Soil Sediment 12:494–502
Yu T (1985) Physical Chemistry of Paddy Soils. Science Press and Springer-verlag, Beijing-Berlin
Zamanian K, Zarebanadkouki M, Kuzyakov K (2018) Nitrogen fertilization raises CO2 efflux from inorganic carbon: a global assessment. Glob Change Biol 24:2810–2817
Zheng S, Xia Y, Hu Y, Chen X, Rui Y, Gunina A, He X, Ge T, Wu J, Su Y, Kuzyakov Y (2021) Stoichiometry of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in soil: effects of agricultural land use and climate at a continental scale. Soil till Res 209:104903
Zhu H, Chen C, Xu C, Zhu Q, Huang D (2016) Effects of soil acidification and liming on the phytoavailability of cadmium in paddy soils of central subtropical China. Environ Pollut 219:99–106
Zhu Q, Liu X, Hao T, Zeng M, Shen J, Zhang F (2020) Cropland acidification increases risk of yield losses and food insecurity in China. Environ Pollut 256:113145
Funding
This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 42130716, 42107366, 41977100, 42177295), the Open Fund of Key Laboratory of Geospatial Technology for Middle and Lower Yellow River Regions (Henan University), Ministry of Education (GTYR202103) and the RUDN University Strategic Academic Leadership Program.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Responsible editor: Caixian Tang
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ma, C., Tu, Q., Zheng, S. et al. Soil acidification induced by intensive agricultural use depending on climate. J Soils Sediments 22, 2604–2607 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-022-03265-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-022-03265-1