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Spatial Variability of Alpine Meadow Soils in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province, China

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Abstract

We study studied the alpine meadow soil in Gannan Prefecture. Geostatistical analysis showed that Circular [soil total nitrogen (STN), soil total potassium (STK), soil available phosphorus (SAP)] model, index [bulk density (BD), soil water content (SWC), soil organic carbon (SOC), soil available nitrogen (SAN)] model and Gaussian [soil total phosphorus (STP), soil available potassium (SAK)] model is universal Kriging Method semi-variation function optimization fitting model. In the model, the spatial correlation is weak to medium, and SOC, STN, STP, STK, SAN, SAP, SAK, and SWC have specific spatial trend effects. Then principal component analysis was used to obtain three key factors (SOC, BD, and SWC) affecting soil quality, which accounted for 81.91% of the total variation of soil quality. These factors were taken as the minimum data set (MDS) and soil quality index (SQI) was calculated. According to SQI, the whole region was divided into three soil management zones (SMZs). Recommendations are made for different management areas to ensure resource conservation and reduce environmental footprint.

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Funding

We acknowledge the financial support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31760135), Gansu Provincial Natural Science Foundation (20JR10RA089), and Gansu Provincial Forestry and Grassland Science and Technology Innovation (KJCX2021005).

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  1. College of Geography and Environmental Science, Northwest Normal University, 730070, Lanzhou, China

    Minxia Liu, Siyuan Wang, Jiale Mi, Chunliang Yang, Le Li & Shirui Xiao

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  1. Minxia Liu
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  2. Siyuan Wang
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Liu, M., Wang, S., Mi, J. et al. Spatial Variability of Alpine Meadow Soils in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province, China. Eurasian Soil Sc. 56 (Suppl 2), S276–S286 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1064229323601592

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