Spatial Heterogeneity of Soil Mineral Oxide Components in Depression Between Karst Hills,Southwest China

• Published in: Chinese geographical science Vol. 24; no. 2; pp. 163 - 179
• Main Authors: Du, Hu, Wang, Kelin, Peng, Wanxia, Zeng, Fuping, Song, Tongqing, Zhang, Hao, Lu, Shiyang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01.04.2014; Springer Berlin Heidelberg; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Al2O3微粉; Earth and Environmental Science; ecosystems; environmental factors; ferric oxide; forest plantations; Geography; geostatistics; hills; karsts; Minerals; Mountains; nitrogen; organic matter; Oxidation; oxides; principal component analysis; secondary forests; soil heterogeneity; soil minerals; Soils; species diversity; topography; 中国西南地区; 主成分分析; 土壤性质; 氧化物; 矿质; 空间异质性; 西南喀斯特地区; China; canonical correlation analysis (CCA); soil mineral oxide component; ecosystem; karst; principal component analysis (PCA)
• ISSN: 1002-0063; 1993-064X
• DOI: 10.1007/s11769-013-0630-9

In karst regions,the spatial heterogeneity of soil mineral oxides and environmental variables is still not clear. We investigated the spatial heterogeneity of SiO2,Al2 O3,Fe2 O3,CaO,MgO,P2 O5,K2 O,and MnO contents in the soils of slope land,plantation forest,secondary forest,and primary forest,as well as their relationships with environmental variables in a karst region of Southwest China. Geostatistics,principal component analysis（PCA）,and canonical correlation analysis（CCA） were applied to analyze the field data. The results show that SiO2 was the predominant mineral in the soils（45.02%–67.33%）,followed by Al2 O3 and Fe2 O3. Most soil mineral oxide components had a strong spatial dependence,except for CaO,MgO,and P2 O5 in the plantation forest,MgO and P2 O5 in the secondary forest,and CaO in the slope land. Dimensionality reduction in PCA was not appropriate due to the strong spatial heterogeneity in the ecosystems. Soil mineral oxide components,the main factors in all ecosystems,had greater influences on vegetation than those of conventional soil properties. There were close relationships between soil mineral oxide components and vegetation,topography,and conventional soil properties. Mineral oxide components affected species diversity,organic matter and nitrogen levels.