ORIGINAL RESEARCH
A Study on the Evolutionary Characteristics
of Soil Properties and Their Drivers in Central
Subtropical Forests: the Case of Fanjing
Mountains in Southwest China
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1
Institute of Biology, Guizhou Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, Guizhou 550009, China
2
Fanjing Mountain Forest Ecosystem Observatory, Guizhou Academy of Sciences, Jiangkou, Guizhou 554400, China
3
Guizhou Fanjingshan Forest Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, Jiangkou, Guizhou 554400, China
4
Institute of Mountain Environment and Climate of Guizhou Province,Guiyang, Guizhou 550002, China
5
College of Resources, Environment and Environmental Engineering, Guizhou University,
Guiyang, Guizhou 550001, China
Submission date: 2023-07-11
Final revision date: 2023-09-06
Acceptance date: 2023-10-10
Online publication date: 2023-12-19
Publication date: 2024-02-09
Corresponding author
Zhenming Zhang
Guizhou Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, Guizhou 550001, P. R. China, 5500025, Guiyang, China
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2024;33(2):1813-1822
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ABSTRACT
Soil properties are crucial in forest ecological management and rare vegetation protection.
In this study, Fanjing Mountain, a typical subtropical forest, was used to investigate and analyze
the differences in soil properties and climate change characteristics of Fanjing Mountain in 1982
and 2014. Then redundancy analysis was used to analyze the influence of climate factors on soil
properties. The results showed that: 1) Compared to 1982, the soil properties of Fanjian Mountain
changed significantly in 2014. The soil texture evolved from a silty loam in 1982 to a silty clay loam
in 2014. There was a significant increase in soil clay particles. In addition, the soil showed acidification,
weakened cation exchange capacity, and relatively stable soil total nitrogen but significant loss of
soil organic matter and total phosphorus nutrients. 2) In the past 32 years, the environmental climate
of Fanjing Mountain has shown the characteristics of increasing annual average temperature and annual
rainfall, frequent extreme temperature, widening the annual temperature range and decreasing annual
relative humidity. 3) Soil type and maximum annual temperature have a highly significant effect on the
evolution of soil properties, while annual rainfall and slope orientation significantly affect the evolution.
Conclusion: The evolution of soil properties in subtropical forests is dominated by their type differences
and climate warming.