Abstract
Purpose
Phyllostachys praecox is one of the bamboo species used for the production of fine edible bamboo shoots and is widely distributed in Southern China. To maintain or increase the productivity of bamboo shoots, P. praecox forests are intensively managed through heavy fertilization and surface mulch of organic residues such as rice husk to increase soil temperature in the winter. Such management techniques can markedly influence soil quality and the dynamics of soil carbon (C). The objectives of this study were to investigate the long-term impact of intensive management practices on carbon pools and forms in the soil of bamboo forests and explore relationships between different soil organic C fractions, as little such information is currently available.
Materials and methods
In this study we use a chronosequence (consisting of bamboo forests 1, 5, 10, and 15 years under intensive management) approach to investigate the long-term impact of intensive bamboo forest management on water-soluble organic C (WSOC), hot water-soluble organic C (HWSOC), microbial biomass C (MBC), and readily oxidizable C (ROC) as well as soil organic C chemistry using the 13C-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique.
Results and discussion
Total soil organic C, WSOC, HWSOC, and ROC increased with time under intensive management, while MBC initially increased then decreased. Solid state NMR spectroscopy of soil samples showed that alkyl C and O-alkyl C dominated soil organic C in the intensively managed bamboo forests, alkyl C content and alkyl C to O-alkyl C ratio increased, aromatic C content, and aromaticity of organic matter decreased, while O-alkyl C did not change as duration under intensive management increased. The WSOC and total soil O-alkyl C contents were positively correlated, indicating that O-alkyl C may be the main component of WSOC, consistent with solution 13C-NMR spectroscopy for WSOC in which O-alkyl C dominated the WSOC fraction regardless of the treatment. Organic matter aromaticity was negatively correlated with HWSOC, indicating that aromaticity was a good indicator of soil organic C stability.
Conclusions
We conclude that long-term application of organic mulch over winter increased total soil organic C content but decreased its stability. Mulching of organic residues in intensively managed bamboo forests is beneficial in increasing the sequestration of organic C in those forest ecosystems. Future research should address the impact of intensive management practices on water quality since the decreased stability of organic C increases the risk of its movement.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Armando SNL, Darwin WA, Brock C (1996) Cultivation effects in the nature of organic matter in soils and water extracts using CP/MAS 13C NMR spectroscopy. Plant Soil 184:207–217
Baldock JA, Preston CM (1995) Chemistry of carbon decomposition processes in forest as revealed by solid-state carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance. In: McFee WW, Kelly JM (eds) Carbon Forms and Functions in Forest Soils. Soil Science Society of America, Madison, pp 89–117
Baldock JA, Oades JM, Nelson PN, Skene TM, Golchin A, Clarke P (1997) Assessing the extent of decomposition of natural organic materials using solid-state 13C NMR spectroscopy. Aust J Soil Res 35:1061–1083
Blair GJ, Lefroy RDB, Lisle L (1995) Soil carbon fractions based on their degree of oxidation, and the development of a carbon management index for agricultural systems. Aust J Agric Res 46:1459–1466
Cao ZH, Huang JF, Zhang CS, Li AF (2004) Soil quality evolution after land use change from paddy soil to vegetable land. Environ Geochem Health 26:97–103
Chen CR, Xu ZH, Mathers NJ (2004) Soil carbon pools in adjacent natural and plantation forests of subtropical Australia. Soil Sci Soc Am J 68:282–291
Dai KOH, Johnson CE, Driscoll CT (2001) Organic matter chemistry and dynamic in clear-cut and unmanaged hardwood forest ecosystems. Biogeochemistry 54:51–83
Fang W, He JC, Lu XK (1994) Cultivation techniques of early shooting and high yield for Phyllostachys praecox. J Zhejiang For Coll 11:121–128 (in Chinese)
Fu JH (2001) Chinese Moso bamboo: its importance. Bamboo: The Magazine of the American Bamboo Society 22:5–7
Ghani A, Dexter M, Perrott KW (2003) Hot-water extractable carbon in soils: a sensitive measurement for determining impacts of fertilisation, grazing and cultivation. Soil Biol Biochem 35:1231–1243
Huang ZQ, Xu ZH, Chen CR, Boyd S (2008a) Changes in soil carbon during the establishment of a hardwood plantation in subtropical Australia. For Ecol Manage 254:46–55
Huang ZQ, Xu ZH, Chen CR (2008b) 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
Jensen LS, Mueller T, Magid J, Nielsen NE (1997) Temporal variation of C and N mineralization, microbial biomass and extractable organic pools in soil after oilseed rape straw incorporation in the field. Soil Biol Biochem 29:1043–1055
Jiang PK, Xu QF (2004) Changes in nitrate content of bamboo shoots responsive to nitrogen fertilizer rate. J Zhejiang For Coll 21:10–14 (in Chinese)
Jiang PK, Yu YW, Zhang LQ, Xu XW (2000) Study on enzyme activities of soil under Phyllostachys praecox forest. J Zhejiang For Coll 17:132–136 (in Chinese)
Jiang PK, Xu QF, Xu ZH, Cao ZH (2006) Seasonal changes in soil labile organic cabon pool within a phyllostachy praecox stand under high rate fertilization and winter mulch in subtropical China. For Ecol Manage 236:30–36
Jin AW, Zhou GM, Zheng BS, Zhao XW (1999) A preliminary study on degenerative mechanism of Phyllostachys praecox stand planted in a protected site. J Fujian Coll For 19:94–96
Lu LK (1999) Analytical methods for soil agrochemistry. Chinese Agricultural Science and Technology Publishing House (in Chinese), Beijing
Mathers NJ, Xu ZH (2003) Solid-state 13C NMR spectroscopy, characterization of soil organic matter under two contrasting residue management regimes in a 2-year-old pine plantation of subtropical Australia. Geoderma 114:19–31
Mathers NJ, Mao XA, Xu ZH, Saffigna PG, Berners-Price SJ, Perera MCS (2000) Recent advances in the application of 13C and 15N NMR spectroscopy to soil organic matter studies. Aust J Soil Res 38:769–787
Mathers NJ, Xu ZH, Berners-Price SJ, Perera MCS, Saffigna PG (2002) Hydrofluoric acid pre-treatment for improving 13C CPMAS NMR spectral quality of forest soils in Southeast Queensland, Australia. Aust J Soil Res 40:655–674
Mathers NJ, Mendham DS, O’Connell AM, Grove TS, Xu ZH, Saffigna PG (2003) How dose residue management impact soil organic matter composition and quality under Eucalyptus globulus plantations in Southwestern Australia? For Ecol Manage 179:253–267
SAS Institute (1989) SAS/STAT user’s guide. Version 6, 4th edn. Cary, North Carolina
Sparling G, Vojvodic-Vukovic M, Schipper LA (1998) Hot water-soluble C as a simple measure of labile soil organic matter: the relationship with microbial biomass C. Soil Biol Biochem 30:1469–1472
Vance ED, Brookes PC, Jenkinson DC (1987) An extraction method for measuring soil microbial biomass C. Soil Biol Biochem 19:703–707
Wilson MA, Heng S, Goh KM, Pugmire RJ, Grant DM (1983) Studies of litter and acid insoluble soil organic matter fraction using 13C cross-polarization nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy with magic angle scanning. J Soil Sci 34:83–97
Wu JS, Jiang PK, Sheng WX, Xie BL (2009) Effect of bamboo (Phyllostachys praecox f. prevernalis) intensive cultivation on water quality in water systems. Sci Silvae Sinicae 45:76–81 (in Chinese)
Yang YM, Xue JR (1998) Bamboo resources and their utilization in China. In: Rao AN, Ramanatha Rao V (eds) Bamboo-conservation, diversity, ecogeography, germplasm, resource utilization and taxonomy. Proceedings of Training Course cum Workshop 10–17 May 1998. Kunming and Xishuanbanna, Yunnan, http://www.bioversityinternational.org/publications/Web_version/572/ch10.htm
Zhang JJ, Dou S, Song XY (2009) Effect of long-term combined nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer application on 13C CPMAS NMR spectra of humin in a Typic Hapludoll of Northeast China. Eur J Soil Sci 60:966–973
Zhou GM, Jin AW, He JC, Wang AG (1999) The influence of cultivation techniques used in covered protected plots on the high-yield property of Lei bamboo plantation for edible shoots. J South Central For Univ 19:52–54 (in Chinese)
Zhou L, Li BG, Zhou GS (2005) Advances in controlling factors of soil organic carbon. Adv Earth Sci 20:99–105 (in Chinese)
Acknowledgments
This work was financially supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30671203), the Foundation of Education Department of Zhejiang Province (No. 2451012024), the ‘151’ Talents Foundation of Zhejiang Province, the Type B Creative Group Grant of Zhejiang Forestry University, and the Youth Creative Group of Zhejiang Forestry University (No. 2009RC04).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Responsible editor: Chengrong Chen
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Li, Y., Jiang, P., Chang, S.X. et al. 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 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-010-0188-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-010-0188-4