ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Changes in Land Use and their Effects
on Soil Properties in Huixian Karst
Wetland System
Zhongyi Li1, Zhenjiang Jin2,3, Qiang Li3
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1Agricultural Resource and Environment Research Institute, Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences,
Nanning 530007, China
2Environmental Science and Engineering College, Guilin University of Technology,
Guilin 541004, China
3Key Laboratory of Karst Dynamics, MLR & Guangxi, Institute of Karst Geology, CAGS,
Guilin 541004, China
Submission date: 2016-07-21
Final revision date: 2016-09-23
Acceptance date: 2016-09-26
Online publication date: 2017-03-22
Publication date: 2017-03-22
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2017;26(2):699-707
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ABSTRACT
To gain a better understanding of the impact from the land-use change in the Huixian karst wetland
system, we analyzed soil microflora, enzyme activities, and physicochemical properties from three land-use
types (natural wetland, paddy field, and dry farmland). The results showed that soil pH, soil organic carbon,
total nitrogen, cation exchange capacity, exchangeable Ca and Mg, and the cellulase and alkaline phosphatase
activities in the dry farmland were significantly lower than those in the paddy field and natural wetland
(p<0.05). However, soil pH, soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, cation exchange capacity, exchangeable Ca
and Mg, and the cellulase and alkaline phosphatase activities made no significant difference to the paddy
field and the natural wetland (p>0.05). Moreover, the soil microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen in the
dry farmland were also lower than those in the paddy field and natural wetland, although no significant
differences were observed (p>0.05). This suggests that, in the alkali condition, natural wetland with high
biomass and weak microbial activity may be an important carbon sink. In the CCA biplot, it can be seen that
the natural wetland cluster intersects with the paddy field cluster and the dry farmland cluster in the same
quadrant (although the paddy field and the dry farmland clusters are separate). Therefore, we concluded that
the natural wetland usually was reclaimed as paddy field or dry farmland directly for agricultural output in
the Huixian karst wetland system. The paddy field has a waterlogged condition and shows the similar results
to natural wetland, which can be regarded as artificial wetland. In view of the similar ecosystem services
by paddy fields as substitutes of natural wetland, if the degradation trend of natural karst wetland can’t be
reversed, the paddy field should be preserved in the Huixian karst wetland system for its ecosystem service.