Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The impact of mulch type on soil organic carbon and nitrogen pools in a sloping site

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Biology and Fertility of Soils Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Three mulch treatments were tested for their ability to control erosion on a sloping site. Additionally, the choice of mulch can also enhance revegetation success and improve soil organic matter input. This study aimed to investigate the effects of three mulching treatments, hydro-seeding, granite mulch and forest mulch, on soil C and N pools at different positions on highly erodible slope with approximately 30 % gradient. Soil moisture, total C (TC), total N (TN), hot water-extractable organic C (HWEOC), hot water-extractable total N (HWETN), microbial biomass C and N (MBC and MBN), inorganic N and potentially mineralisable N were measured. All variables were significantly higher in soils amended with forest mulch than those with hydro-seeding and granite mulch, for the same slope positions. Soil moisture was significantly higher in the lower slope position than middle and upper slope positions in hydro-seeding and granite mulch treatments, whereas no slope effect was observed on soil moisture under the forest mulch application. In the forest mulch treatment, the upper slope position had higher soil TC, TN, HWEOC, HWETN, MBC, MBN, NO3 −-N and total inorganic N than the middle and lower slope positions. Five years following mulch application, forest mulch still exerted a significant influence on soil fertility compared to the other treatments and the influence on soil moisture suggests that this treatment would be the most effective in the control of water-driven soil erosion on this steep site.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Arthur MA, Wang Y (1999) Soil nutrients and microbial biomass following weed-control treatments in a Christmas tree plantation. Soil Sci Soc Am J 63:629–637

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Barajas-Guzmán MG, Campo J, Barradas VL (2006) Soil water, nutrient availability and sapling survival under organic and polyethylene mulch in a seasonally dry tropical forest. Plant Soil 287:347–357

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benigno SM, Dixon KW, Stevens JC (2012) Increasing soil water retention with native-sourced mulch improves seedling establishment in postmine Mediterranean sandy soils. Restor Ecol. doi:10.1111/j.1526-100X.2012.00926.x

    Google Scholar 

  • Blumfield TJ, Xu ZH, Prasolova NV, Mathers NJ (2006) Effect of overlying windrowed harvest residues on soil carbon and nitrogen in hoop pine plantations of subtropical Australia. J Soils Sediments 6:243–248

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brookes PC, Landman A, Pruden G, Jenkinson DS (1985) Chloroform fumigation and the release of soil nitrogen : a rapid direct extraction method to measure microbial biomass nitrogen in soil. Soil Biol Biochem 17:837–842

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chaparro JM, Sheflin AM, Manter DK, Vivanco JM (2012) Manipulating the soil microbiome to increase soil health and plant fertility. Biol Fertil Soils 48:489–499

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen CR, Xu ZH (2005) Soil carbon and nitrogen pools and microbial properties in a 6-year-old slash pine plantation of subtropical Australia: impacts of harvest residue management. For Ecol Manage 206:237–247

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Close DC, Davidson NJ (2003) Revegetation to combat tree decline in the midlands and Derwent Valley lowlands of Tasmania: practices for improved plant establishment. Ecol Manage Restor 4:29–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eck B, Barrett M, McFarland A, Hauck L (2010) Hydro-seeding logic and water quality aspects of using a compost/mulch blend for erosion control. J Irrig Drain Eng 136:646–655

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fang S, Xie B, Liu D, Liu J (2011) Effects of mulching materials on nitrogen mineralization, nitrogen availability and poplar growth on degraded agricultural soil. New For 41:147–162

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gholami L, Sadeghi SH, Homaee M (2013) Straw mulching effect on splash erosion, runoff, and sediment yield from eroded plots. Soil Sci Soc Am J 77:268–278

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gonzalez-Quiñones V, Stockdale EA, Banning NC, Hoyle FC, Sawada Y, Wherrett AD, Jones DL, Murphy DV (2011) Soil microbial biomass—interpretation and consideration for soil monitoring. Soil Res 49:287–304

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grismer ME, Hogan MP (2005a) Simulated rainfall evaluation of revegetation/mulch erosion control in the Lake Tahoe basin—3: soil treatment effects. Land Degrad Dev 16:489–501

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grismer ME, Hogan MP (2005b) Simulated rainfall evaluation of revegetation/mulch erosion control in the Lake Tahoe basin: 2. Bare soil assessment. Land Degrad Dev 16:397–404

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang ZQ, Xu ZH, Chen C (2008a) Effect of mulching on labile soil organic matter pools, microbial community functional diversity and nitrogen transformations in two hardwood plantations of subtropical Australia. Appl Soil Ecol 40:229–239

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang ZQ, Xu ZH, Chen CR, Boyd S (2008b) Changes in soil carbon during the establishment of a hardwood plantation in subtropical Australia. For Ecol Manag 254:46–55

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kemper WD, Nicks AD, Corey AT (1994) Accumulation of water in soils under gravel and sand mulches. Soil Sci Soc Am J 58:56–63

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li Y, Jiang P, Chang S, Wu J, Lin L (2010) Organic mulch and fertilization affect soil carbon pools and forms under intensively managed bamboo (Phyllostachys praecox) forests in southeast China. J Soils Sediments 10:739–747

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Murungu FS, Chiduza C, Muchaonyerwa P, Mnkeni PNS (2011) Mulch effects on soil moisture and nitrogen, weed growth and irrigated maize productivity in a warm-temperate climate of South Africa. Soil Tillage Res 112:58–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robichaud PR, Wagenbrenner JW, Lewis SA, Ashmun LE, Brown RE, Wohlgemuth PM (2013) Post-fire mulching for runoff and erosion mitigation Part II: effectiveness in reducing runoff and sediment yields from small catchments. CATENA 105:93–111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Samyn J, De Vos B (2002) The assessment of mulch sheets to inhibit competitive vegetation in tree plantations in urban and natural environment. Urban For Urban Green 1:25–37

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shi ZH, Yue BJ, Wang L, Fang NF, Wang D, Wu FZ (2013) Effects of mulch cover rate on interrill erosion processes and the size selectivity of eroded sediment on steep slopes. Soil Sci Soc Am J 77:257–267

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tsui CC, Chen ZS, Hsieh CF (2004) Relationships between soil properties and slope position in a lowland rain forest of southern Taiwan. Geoderma 123:131–142

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vance ED, Brookes PC, Jenkinson DS (1987) An extraction method for measuring soil microbial biomass-C. Soil Biol Biochem 19:703–707

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang H, Hall CS, Cornell J, Hall MP (2002) Spatial dependence and the relationship of soil organic carbon and soil moisture in the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico. Landscape Ecol 17:671–684

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wei X, Shao M, Fu X, Horton R (2010) Changes in soil organic carbon and total nitrogen after 28 years grassland afforestation: effects of tree species, slope position, and soil order. Plant Soil 331:165–179

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Woods SR, Fehmi JS, Backer DM (2012) An assessment of revegetation treatments following removal of invasive Pennisetum ciliare (buffelgrass). J Arid Environ 87:168–175

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu ZH, Prasolova NV, Lundkvist K, Beadle C, Leaman T (2003) Genetic variation in branchlet carbon and nitrogen isotope composition and nutrient concentration of 11-year-old hoop pine families in relation to tree growth in subtropical Australia. For Ecol Manag 186:359–371

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu ZH, Saffigna PG, Farquhar GD, Simpson JA, Haines RJ, Walker S, Osborne DO, Guinto D (2000) Carbon isotope discrimination and oxygen isotope composition in clones of the F-1 hybrid between slash pine and Caribbean pine in relation to tree growth, water-use efficiency and foliar nutrient concentration. Tree Physiol 20:1209–1217

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Youkhana A, Idol T (2009) Tree pruning mulch increases soil C and N in a shaded coffee agroecosystem in Hawaii. Soil Biol Biochem 41:2527–2534

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yuan C, Lei T, Mao L, Liu H, Wu Y (2009) Soil surface evaporation processes under mulches of different sized gravel. Catena 78:117–121

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang S, Chen D, Sun D, Wang X, Smith J, Du G (2012) Impacts of altitude and position on the rates of soil nitrogen mineralization and nitrification in alpine meadows on the eastern Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau, China. Biol Fertil Soils 48:393–400

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by Powerlink QLD and the authors would like to express their gratitude for providing the financial support and access to the site.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Futures Centre, Griffith School of Biomolecular and Physical Sciences, Griffith University, Nathan, Brisbane, QLD, 4111, Australia

    Shahla Hosseini Bai, Timothy J. Blumfield & Frédérique Reverchon

  2. Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore DC, QLD, 4558, Australia

    Shahla Hosseini Bai

Authors
  1. Shahla Hosseini Bai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Timothy J. Blumfield
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Frédérique Reverchon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shahla Hosseini Bai.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hosseini Bai, S., Blumfield, T.J. & Reverchon, F. The impact of mulch type on soil organic carbon and nitrogen pools in a sloping site. Biol Fertil Soils 50, 37–44 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-013-0829-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-013-0829-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation