Abstract
Soil organic matter (SOM) controls various soil properties and functions, possibly at molecular composition level. Better understanding of the SOM chemistry is vital for evaluating soil quality and the effectiveness of soil restoration practices. This study aimed to characterize the dynamic changes of SOM chemistry during the restoration process from a severely degraded Mollisol (MO) under short-term natural and agricultural management practices. It further facilitated to investigate the influencing factors of such changes, as well as helped to unveil the possible origins of SOM that control the carbon sequestration and stabilization. A field restoration experiment based on the parent material (PM) of MO was established in 2004. The restoration experiment included two no-tilled soils supporting natural fallow (NatF) and alfalfa (Alfa) and three arable soils: without chemical fertilizer and organic inputs (F0C0), with chemical fertilization and part (F1C1), or all (F1C2) aboveground biomass inputs. The surface soils (0–20 cm) after 2 and 8 years of different restoration practices were collected to investigate the molecular compositions of SOM by 13C cross-polarization/total sideband suppression solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (CP/TOSS NMR) and CP/TOSS with dipolar dephasing techniques. Two reference soils including surface MO and PM were also determined. Compared with PM, the proportions of O-alkyl and alkyl C groups increased by 5.8–16.0% and 2.8–5.0% after 8-year soil restoration, respectively, while proportions of nonpolar alkyl C, aromatic C, and carbonyl/amide C groups decreased by 5.0–24.1%, 17.3–55.0%, and 10.1–23.2%, respectively. Larger changes were mainly found in F1C2. Redundant analysis showed that the chemical structure of SOM varied largely among treatments after 2-year soil restoration, but the variations became smaller after 8-year soil restoration, with the SOM chemistry in F1C2 being more closed to MO. The variations were mainly driven by protonated O-alkyl C, anomeric C, and OCH3 C; unprotonated aromatic C; and amid C via axis 1 and nonpolar alkyl C, protonated aromatic C, and unprotonated anomeric C via axis 2. The contents of soil organic carbon and amino sugars correlated positively with protonated O-alkyl C and aromatic C groups, suggesting soil microbial residues related to the changes of SOM chemistry. Natural perennials and agricultural restoration practices altered the SOM chemistry by adding different quality and quantity of plant residues during the soil restoration from a severely degraded Mollisol. Plant-derived organic carbon was transformed into SOM, and higher organic inputs could further facilitate the restoration of SOM chemistry. These organic components, together with soil microbial residues, contributed to the restoration of SOM chemistry and subsequently influenced the SOM stabilization.
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Acknowledgements
We thank two anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments on previous versions of our manuscript.
Funding
The work was funded by the Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences, CAS (ZDBS-LY-DQC017), and the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDA28010301). Na Li was supported by the Excellent Young Talent Program of Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, CAS, and Heilongjiang Province Foundation for Returnees.
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NL and WYL wrote the main manuscript. XZH designed and maintained the experiment. NL sampled the soils and collected the data. NL and JHL prepared the figures and tables. WYL, JHL, and NL contributed the statistical analysis. All authors contributed to the interpretation of results and/or drafting the manuscript.
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Li, N., Lei, W., Long, J. et al. Restoration of Chemical Structure of Soil Organic Matter Under Different Agricultural Practices from a Severely Degraded Mollisol. J Soil Sci Plant Nutr 21, 3132–3145 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42729-021-00594-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42729-021-00594-x