The role of forest litter as an acid-base buffering system was assessed by litter from plantation and natural forests in South China. Samples were either extracted with acid solutions or titrated with acid or base solutions. Litter was found to be a strong acid-base buffering system. Two legume species, Acacia mangium Willd and A. auriculaiformis A. Cunn, had very high litter pH values of around 6, which was 2 pH units higher than that of the soil where they grew. Litter of all other plantation species had litter pH of around 4, similar to that of the soil. Both legume species have high potential to neutralize soil acidity and the litter layer could act to shield soil against acid rain. The current stand of two legume species was estimated to be able to raise rain acidity by 0.1 to 0.4 pH units. Inorganic ions did not fully explain the pH pattern of different litter extracts, but high sodium and low nitrate partly accounted for the high pH of the two legume species. Some natural forest species had extremely low pH. As a whole, the litter of the natural climax forest was the driving force of soil acidification. Although plant residues are strong acid-base buffering system and able to adjust acidity of environment, only a few species can be expected to make soil more acid or alkaline through this mechanism since most species have litter pH values similar to those of soil where they grow.
Continuous and prolonged human disturbances have caused severe degradation of a large portion of lowland in South China, and how to restore such degraded ecosystems becomes an increasing concern. The process and mechanisms of spontaneous succession, which plays an important role in vegetation restoration, have not been adequately examined. To identify the pathways of early spontaneous vegetation succession, 41 plots representing plant communities abandoned over different times were established and investigated. The communities and indicator species of the vegetation were classified by analyzing the important values of plant species using multivariate analyses. The results indicated that the plant species could be classified into nine plant communities representing six succession stages. The pathway and species composition also changed in the process of succession. We also measured 13 environmental variables of microtopography, soil structure and soil nutrition in each plot to examine the driving forces of succession and the vegetation-environment relationships. Our results showed that the environmental variables changed in diverse directions, and that soil bulk density, soil water capacity and soil acidity were the most important factors.
Wen-Jun DuanHai RenSheng-Lei FuQin-Feng GuoJun Wang
Temporal variability in soil CO2 emission from an orchard was measured using a dynamic open-chamber system for measuring soil CO2 effiux in Heshan Guangdong Province, in the lower subtropical area of China. Intensive measurements were conducted for a period of 12 months. Soil CO2 emissions were also modeled by multiple regression analysis from daily air temperature, dry-bulb saturated vapor pressure, relative humidity, atmospheric pressure, soil moisture, and soil temperature. Data was analyzed based on soil moisture levels and air temperature with annual data being grouped into either hot-humid season or relatively cool season based on the precipitation patterns. This was essential in order to acquire simplified exponential models for parameter estimation. Minimum and maximum daily mean soil CO2 effiux rates were observed in November and July, with respective rates of 1.98 ± 0.66 and 11.04 ± 0.96 μmol m^-2 s^-1 being recorded. Annual average soil CO2 emission （FCO2） was 5.92 μmol m^-2 s^-1. Including all the weather variables into the model helped to explain 73.9% of temporal variability in soil CO2 emission during the measurement period. Soil CO2 effiux increased with increasing soil temperature and soil moisture. Preliminary results showed that Q10, which is defined as the difference in respiration rates over a 10 ℃ interval, was partly explained by fine root biomass. Soil temperature and soil moisture were the dominant factors controlling soil CO2 effiux and were regarded as the driving variables for CO2 production in the soil. Including these two variables in regression models could provide a useful tool for predicting the variation of CO2 emission in the commercial forest Soils of South China .
LI Yue-LinD. OTIENOK. OWENZHANG YunJ. TENHUNENRAO Xing-QuanLIN Yong-Biao
