Soil Properties Sensitivity to Land-Use Change from Cropland to Abandoned Land

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Abstract

The conversion of land use is a crucial factor in the dynamics of soil carbon stocks. The widespread abandonment of cropland that began in Russia during the 1990s resulted in vegetation and soil restoration. This led to changes in soil properties and carbon fluxes within the plant-soil-atmosphere system. The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of post-agricultural soil restoration on the rate of change in soil properties, specifically organic carbon (Corg) and total nitrogen (Ntotal) contents, microbial respiration rate, and activity of hydrolytic enzymes. A post-agricultural chronosequence formed on Haplic Luvisols, including current cropland, 7- and 25-year-old post-agricultural abandoned land and grassland was studied. The rate of change in soil properties during post-agricultural restoration was evaluated based on their sensitivity to land use changes, with a comparison of changes in soil organic carbon content. The least sensitive properties to land use change were found to be Corg and Ntotal in the mineral-associated organic matter fraction, and pH value. The content of water-soluble nitrogen, Corg and Ntotal in the free and occluded organic matter fractions, as well as β-glucosidase and chitinase activity, were the most sensitive to land use changes. Therefore, the recovery of sensitive soil properties in the upper 10 cm is complete within the first decade after tillage is stopped. In contrast, the restoration of less sensitive properties requires more than 20 years.

About the authors

N. P. Samokhina

Sirius University of Science and Technology; University of Tyumen

Author for correspondence.
Email: samokhina_np@mail.ru
ORCID iD: 0009-0002-0608-6506
Russian Federation, Sirius, 354340; Tyumen, 625003

Е. A. Filimonenko

Sirius University of Science and Technology; University of Tyumen

Email: samokhina_np@mail.ru
Russian Federation, Sirius, 354340; Tyumen, 625003

I. N. Kurganova

Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: samokhina_np@mail.ru
Russian Federation, Pushchino, 142290

V. O. Lopez de Gerenu

Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: samokhina_np@mail.ru
Russian Federation, Pushchino, 142290

A. N. Maltseva

Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: samokhina_np@mail.ru
Russian Federation, Pushchino, 142290

A. K. Khodzhaeva

Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: samokhina_np@mail.ru
Russian Federation, Pushchino, 142290

S. Y. Zorina

Siberian Institute of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences – Irkutsk Scientific Center

Email: samokhina_np@mail.ru
Russian Federation, Irkutsk, 664033

L. G. Sokolova

Siberian Institute of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences – Irkutsk Scientific Center

Email: samokhina_np@mail.ru
Russian Federation, Irkutsk, 664033

N. V. Dorofeev

Siberian Institute of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences – Irkutsk Scientific Center

Email: samokhina_np@mail.ru
Russian Federation, Irkutsk, 664033

Y. V. Kuzyakov

University of Gottingen; Peoples Friendship University of Russia

Email: samokhina_np@mail.ru
Germany, Gottingen, 37077; Moscow, 117198 Russia

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2. Fig. 1. Reserves of carbon, Cstock (a), total nitrogen, Nstock (b) at depths of 0-5 and 5-10 cm and the content of dissolved C and N (c) at depths from 0 to 10 cm in the soils of arable land, 7 and 25-year-old deposits and natural meadows. The standard error was used to indicate the error limits on the graph.

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3. Fig. 2. The content of Sorg (a) and Nc (b) in the fractions of PO, taking into account their mass (g/kg of soil), fPOM – free fraction (<1.6 g/cm3), oROM – occluded fraction (1.6–2.0 g/cm3), MAOM – organo-mineral fraction (>2.0 g/cm3) and the contribution of each fraction to the content of Sorghum and Nox in the soil.

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4. Fig. 3. Basal respiration rate – DB (a), microbial biomass carbon pool – Smic/Sorghum (b), specific respiration per unit of soil carbon – DB/Sorghum (c), microbial metabolic coefficient – qCO2 (d), activity of β-glucosidase (e) and chitinase (f) in the soils of arable land, 7 and 25-year-old deposits and natural meadows at depths of 0-5 and 5-10 cm. The standard error was used to indicate the error limits on the graph. The significance of differences between depths at p = 0.05, a, b, c, d – the significance of differences between objects at p = 0.05.

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5. Fig. 4. The relationship between the content of organic carbon oPOS (a) and total nitrogen oPON (b) in the occluded fraction of POV (the sum of oPOM with a density of <1.6, 1.6–1.8 and 1.8–2.0 g/cm3) and basal respiration rate (DB), the relationship between the content of organic carbon oPON (c) and total oPON(d) nitrogen in an oPOM subfraction with a density of less than 1.6 g/cm3 with a carbon content of microbial biomass (Smic).

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6. Fig. 5. Sensitivity of soil properties in case of land use change (postagrogenic soil restoration). The dotted arrow is located in the direction of an increase in the content of Sorghum and soil properties in the process of postagrogenic development. The solid arrow is located in the direction of increasing the sensitivity of soil parameters to postagrogenic soil development. The soil properties located on the 1:1 line increase in proportion to the increase in the content of Sorghum and have the same sensitivity with soil carbon. If the increase in soil properties occurs faster than the Sorghum values (below the 1 :1 line), then the properties are more sensitive, and if slower (above the 1:1 line), then the properties are less sensitive compared to the Sorghum content.

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