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Spatial variations in soil organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations related to stand characteristics in subtropical areas

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Abstract

Aims

Our study aimed to determine whether, and to what extent, stand characteristics and topography affected spatial variations in soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) concentrations in subtropical forests.

Methods

Soil samples were taken from a Choerospondias axillaris deciduous broadleaved forest and a Lithocarpus glaber–Cyclobalanopsis glauca evergreen broadleaved forest. Spatial variations in SOC, TN and TP concentrations and the factors affecting them were investigated using geostatistical analysis and stepwise linear regression, respectively.

Results

The L. glaber–C. glauca forest exhibited higher coefficients of variation (CVs) of SOC (35 %) and TN (34 %) concentrations than the C. axillaris forest (27 % for SOC and 21 % for TN), but the CV of TP concentration in the L. glaber–C. glauca forest (17 %) was lower than that in the C. axillaris forest (24 %). Stand characteristics contributed the most to spatial variations in SOC and TP, while soil texture made the greatest contribution to variations in TN. Topography contributed the least to variations in SOC, TN and TP.

Conclusions

Stand characteristics, together with topography and soil texture, contributed to spatial variations in SOC, TN and TP concentrations. The contributions of stand characteristics differed in SOC, TN and TP due to their different cycling characteristics.

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Abbreviations

SOC:

Soil organic carbon

TN:

Total nitrogen

TP:

Total phosphorus

CVs:

Coefficients of variation

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education (20124321110006), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31570447 and 31170426) and the New Century Excellent Talents Program (NCET-06-0715). We would also like to thank the staff of the administrative office of the Dashanchong Forest Farm, Changsha County, Hunan Province, China for their local support for this study.

Author contributions

Idea and study design: WX; data collection and analysis: FJ, YZ, SO, PL and XD, with support from WX and XF; manuscript writing: FJ, XW, WX and CP.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Life Science and Technology, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha, 410004, Hunan, China

    Fang Jiang, Xiaohong Wu, Wenhua Xiang, Xi Fang, Yeling Zeng, Shuai Ouyang, Pifeng Lei & Xiangwen Deng

  2. Huitong National Field Station for Scientific Observation and Research of Chinese Fir Plantation Ecosystem in Hunan Province, Huitong, 438107, Hunan, China

    Fang Jiang, Wenhua Xiang, Xi Fang, Yeling Zeng, Shuai Ouyang, Pifeng Lei & Xiangwen Deng

  3. National Engineering Laboratory of Applied Technology for Forestry & Ecology in Southern China, Changsha, 410004, Hunan, China

    Xiaohong Wu, Shuai Ouyang, Pifeng Lei & Xiangwen Deng

  4. Institute of Environment Sciences, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Quebec at Montreal, Montreal, QC, H3C 3P8, Canada

    Changhui Peng

Authors
  1. Fang Jiang
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  2. Xiaohong Wu
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  3. Wenhua Xiang
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  9. Changhui Peng
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Wenhua Xiang.

Additional information

Responsible Editor: Jeff R. Powell.

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Jiang, F., Wu, X., Xiang, W. et al. Spatial variations in soil organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations related to stand characteristics in subtropical areas. Plant Soil 413, 289–301 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-016-3101-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-016-3101-0

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