Regional Sustainability ›› 2024, Vol. 5 ›› Issue (3): 100162.doi: 10.1016/j.regsus.2024.100162cstr: 32279.14.j.regsus.2024.100162

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Characteristics and drivers of the soil multifunctionality under different land use and land cover types in the drylands of China

SONG Boyia,b,c,d, ZHANG Shihangb,c,d,e, LU Yongxingb,c,d, GUO Haob,c,d, GUO Xingb,c,d,e, WANG Mingmingb,c,d, ZHANG Yuanmingb,c,d, ZHOU Xiaobingb,c,d, ZHUANG Weiweia,*()   

  1. aCollege of Life Sciences, Xinjiang Normal University, Urumqi, 830054, China
    bState Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, 830011, China
    cXinjiang Key Laboratory of Biodiversity Conservation and Application in Arid Lands, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, 830011, China
    dXinjiang Field Scientific Observation Research Station of Tianshan Wild Fruit Forest Ecosystem, Ili Botanical Garden, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ili, 844900, China
    eUniversity of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
  • Received:2024-01-28 Revised:2024-06-16 Accepted:2024-08-23 Published:2024-09-30 Online:2024-09-25
  • Contact: ZHUANG Weiwei E-mail:zww8611@sina.com

Abstract:

The drylands of China cover approximately 6.6×106 km2 and are home to approximately 5.8×108 people, providing important ecosystem services for human survival and development. However, dryland ecosystems are extremely fragile and sensitive to external environmental changes. Land use and land cover (LULC) changes significantly impact soil structure and function, thus affecting the soil multifunctionality (SMF). However, the effect of LULC changes on the SMF in the drylands of China has rarely been reported. In this study, we investigated the characteristics of the SMF changes based on soil data in the 1980s from the National Tibetan Plateau Data Center. We explored the drivers of the SMF changes under different LULC types (including forest, grassland, shrubland, and desert) and used structural equation modeling to explore the main driver of the SMF changes. The results showed that the SMF under the four LULC types decreased in the following descending order: forest, grassland, shrubland, and desert. The main driver of the SMF changes under different LULC types was mean annual temperature (MAT). In addition to MAT, pH in forest, soil moisture (SM) and soil biodiversity index in grassland, SM in shrubland, and aridity index in desert are crucial factors for the SMF changes. Therefore, the SMF in the drylands of China is regulated mainly by MAT and pH, and comprehensive assessments of the SMF in drylands need to be performed regarding LULC changes. The results are beneficial for evaluating the SMF among different LULC types and predicting the SMF under global climate change.

Key words: Soil multifunctionality (SMF), Land use and land cover (LULC) changes, Structural equation modeling (SEM), Climate change, Dryland ecosystems