Dataset Information

Shelterbelt Poplar Forests Induced Soil Changes in Deep Soil Profiles and Climates Contributed Their Inter-site Variations in Dryland Regions, Northeastern China.

ABSTRACT: The influence of shelterbelt afforestation on soils in different-depth profiles and possible interaction with climatic conditions is important for evaluating ecological effects of large-scale afforestation programs. In the Songnen Plain, northeastern China, 720 soil samples were collected from five different soil layers (0-20, 20-40, 40-60, 60-80, and 80-100 cm) in shelterbelt poplar forests and neighboring farmlands. Soil physiochemical properties [pH, electrical conductivity (EC), soil porosity, soil moisture and bulk density], soil carbon and nutrients [soil organic carbon (SOC), N, alkaline-hydrolyzed N, P, available P, K and available K], forest characteristics [tree height, diameter at breast height (DBH), and density], climatic conditions [mean annual temperature (MAT), mean annual precipitation (MAP), and aridity index (ARID)], and soil texture (percentage of silt, clay, and sand) were measured. We found that the effects of shelterbelt afforestation on bulk density, porosity, available K, and total P were observed up to 100 cm deep; while the changes in available K and P were several-fold higher in the 0-20 cm soil layer than that in deeper layers (p < 0.05). For other parameters (soil pH and EC), shelterbelt-influences were mainly observed in surface soils, e.g., EC was 14.7% lower in shelterbelt plantations than that in farmlands in the 0-20 cm layer, about 2.5-3.5-fold higher than 60-100 cm soil inclusion. For soil moisture, shelterbelt afforestation decreased soil water by 7.3-8.7% in deep soils (p < 0.05), while no significant change was in 0-20 cm soil. For SOC and N, no significant differences between shelterbelt and farmlands were found in all five-depth soil profiles. Large inter-site variations were found for all shelterbelt-induced soil changes (p < 0.05) except for total K in the 0-20 cm layer. MAT and silt content provided the greatest explanation powers for inter-site variations in shelterbelt-induced soil properties changes. However, in deeper soils, water (ARID and MAP) explained more of the variation than that in surface soils. Therefore, shelterbelt afforestation in northeastern China could affect aspects of soil properties down to 100 cm deep, with inter-site variations mainly controlled by climate and soil texture, and greater contribution from water characteristics in deeper soils.

SUBMITTER: Wu Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6416468 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Shelterbelt Poplar Forests Induced Soil Changes in Deep Soil Profiles and Climates Contributed Their Inter-site Variations in Dryland Regions, Northeastern China.

Wu Yan Y Wang Qiong Q Wang Huimei H Wang Wenjie W Han Shijie S

Frontiers in plant science 20190305

The influence of shelterbelt afforestation on soils in different-depth profiles and possible interaction with climatic conditions is important for evaluating ecological effects of large-scale afforestation programs. In the Songnen Plain, northeastern China, 720 soil samples were collected from five different soil layers (0-20, 20-40, 40-60, 60-80, and 80-100 cm) in shelterbelt poplar forests and neighboring farmlands. Soil physiochemical properties [pH, electrical conductivity (EC), soil porosit ...[more]

PMID: 30899268

Similar Datasets

Project description:Understanding the responses of vegetation characteristics and soil properties to grazing in different precipitation regimes is useful for the management of rangelands, especially in the arid regions. In northeastern Iran, we studied the responses of vegetation to livestock grazing in three regions with different climates: arid, semiarid, and subhumid. In each region, we selected 6-7 pairwise sampling areas of high versus low grazing intensity and six traits of the present species were recorded on 1 m2 plots-five grazed and five ungrazed in each area. The overall fertility was compared using the dissimilarity analysis, and linear mixed-effect models were used to compare the individual fertility parameters, functional diversity indices, and species traits between the plots with high and low grazing intensity and between the climatic regions. Both climate and grazing, as well as their interaction, affected fertility parameters, functional diversity indices, and the representation of species traits. Grazing reduced functional evenness, height of the community, the representation of annuals, but increased the community leaf area. In the subhumid region, grazing also reduced functional richness. Further, grazing decreased the share of annual species in the semiarid region and seed mass in the arid region. Larger leaf area and seed mass, smaller height and lower share of annuals were associated with intensive grazing. Species with large LA and seed mass, lower height and perennials can be therefore presumed to tolerate trampling and benefit from high nutrient levels, associated with intensive grazing. By providing a detailed view on the impacts of overgrazing, this study highlights the importance of protection from grazing as an effective management tool for maintaining the pastoral ecosystems. In general, the composition of plant traits across the pastures of northeastern Iran was more affected by intensive grazing than by the differences in climate.

Project description:BACKGROUND: De novo retrotransposition of Alu elements has been recognized as a major driver for insertion polymorphisms in human populations. In this study, we exploited Alu-anchored bisulfite PCR libraries to identify evolutionarily recent Alu element insertions, and to investigate their genetic and epigenetic variation. RESULTS: A total of 327 putatively recent Alu insertions were identified, altogether represented by 1,762 sequence reads. Nearly all such de novo retrotransposition events (316/327) were novel. Forty-seven out of forty-nine randomly selected events, corresponding to nineteen genomic loci, were sequence-verified. Alu element insertions remained hemizygous in one or more individuals in sixteen of the nineteen genomic loci. The Alu elements were found to be enriched for young Alu families with characteristic sequence features, such as the presence of a longer poly(A) tail. In addition, we documented the occurrence of a duplication of the AT-rich target site in their immediate flanking sequences, a hallmark of retrotransposition. Furthermore, we found the sequence motif (TT/AAAA) that is recognized by the ORF2P protein encoded by LINE-1 in their 5'-flanking regions, consistent with the fact that Alu retrotransposition is facilitated by LINE-1 elements. While most of these Alu elements were heavily methylated, we identified an Alu localized 1.5 kb downstream of TOMM5 that exhibited a completely unmethylated left arm. Interestingly, we observed differential methylation of its immediate 5' and 3' flanking CpG dinucleotides, in concordance with the unmethylated and methylated statuses of its internal 5' and 3' sequences, respectively. Importantly, TOMM5's CpG island and the 3 Alu repeats and 1 MIR element localized upstream of this newly inserted Alu were also found to be unmethylated. Methylation analyses of two additional genomic loci revealed no methylation differences in CpG dinucleotides flanking the Alu insertion sites in the two homologous chromosomes, irrespective of the presence or absence of the insertion. CONCLUSIONS: We anticipate that the combination of methodologies utilized in this study, which included repeat-anchored bisulfite PCR sequencing and the computational analysis pipeline herein reported, will prove invaluable for the generation of genetic and epigenetic variation maps.

Dataset Information

Shelterbelt Poplar Forests Induced Soil Changes in Deep Soil Profiles and Climates Contributed Their Inter-site Variations in Dryland Regions, Northeastern China.

Publications

Shelterbelt Poplar Forests Induced Soil Changes in Deep Soil Profiles and Climates Contributed Their Inter-site Variations in Dryland Regions, Northeastern China.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets