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Changes in precipitation patterns alter aggregate stability-related cations and micronutrients in a desert grassland

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Abstract

Altered rainfall caused by climate change affects soil cations and aggregate stability and thus affecting the soil productivity of ecosystems. However, little is known regarding the changes of soil nutrients and aggregate stability with rainfall change in desert grassland. To investigate the effect of rainfall on the soil nutrients and aggregate stability, cations of Ca2+, Mg2+, K+, Na+ and Al3+ and micronutrients of Fe2+, Mn2+, Cu2+ and Zn2+ in bulk soil and three soil aggregate sizes classes (microaggregate, < 0.25 mm; small macroaggregate, 0.25–2 mm; large macroaggregate, > 2 mm) from rainfall manipulation (i.e., ambient rainfall amount as a control, ± 20% and ± 40% of ambient rainfall) were examined in a desert grassland of the western Loess Plateau. The Na+ content under extreme drought (− 40%) was significantly increased in all aggregate size classes and bulk soil and further increased effective cation exchange capacity (ECEC) in the microaggregate. Fe2+ in microaggregate under + 20% treatment was significantly increased compared to ± 40% and CK (ambient rainfall). Although the significant differences in Mg2+, Ca2+, Mn2+, Cu2+ and Zn2+ in aggregates and bulk soil were not found among rainfall treatments, more micronutrients tended to accumulate in the small macroaggregate. Extreme drought reduced soil aggregate stability resulting from the increased soil fractal dimension (D) due to the accumulation of Na+. The contribution of large macroaggregate to cations and micronutrients in bulk soil, soil mean weight diameter (MWD) and geometric mean diameter (GMD) significantly increased with increased rainfall. In contrast, D, erodibility (K) as well as the contribution of microaggregate to nutrients in bulk soil increased with the decreased rainfall. This work highlights the importance of cations for aggregate stabilization under altered rainfall regimes in a desert grassland. Moreover, the response of micronutrients to rainfall alteration needs to be investigated in the aspect of aggregate and bulk soil.

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Funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Numbers: 41761043, 41201196, 41261047), the Youth Teacher Scientific Capability Promoting Team Project of Northwest Normal University (Grant Numbers: NWNU-LKQN2020-06, NWNU-LKQN17-7) and the Key Research and Development Program of Gansu Province (Grant Number: 20YF3FA042). The authors thank the Gaolan Experiment Station for Ecology and Agriculture Research, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources.

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  1. College of Geography and Environment Science, Northwest Normal University, 967 Anning East Road, Lanzhou, 730070, China

    Lihua Zhang, Xiaoyu Jiang, Mengmeng Wang, Han Gao, Ruifeng Zhao, Xiaotong Ren & Xi Wei

  2. Key Laboratory of Resource Environment and Sustainable Development of Oasis, 967 Anning East Road, Lanzhou, 730070, Gansu, China

    Lihua Zhang, Xiaoyu Jiang, Mengmeng Wang, Han Gao, Ruifeng Zhao, Xiaotong Ren & Xi Wei

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  1. Lihua Zhang
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Contributions

LHZ: conceptualization, investigation, formal analysis, writing—original draft, writing—review and editing, Funding acquisition. XYJ: investigation, formal analysis, writing—original draft. MMW: conceptualization, writing—review and editing. HG: investigation, methodology, resources. RFZ: methodology, writing—review and editing. XTR: investigation, methodology. XW: investigation, methodology, formal analysis.

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Zhang, L., Jiang, X., Wang, M. et al. Changes in precipitation patterns alter aggregate stability-related cations and micronutrients in a desert grassland. Environ Earth Sci 83, 262 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-024-11557-7

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