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Assessment of Spatial Variability of Soil Characteristics and Plant Diversity in Semi-Arid Grasslands

Year 2020, Volume: 6 Issue: 1, 1 - 8, 30.10.2020

Ülkü Yılmaz Sabit Erşahin Seval Sünal Kavaklıgil

Abstract

Semi-arid areas comprise a considerable acreage in Turkey and the vegetation cover is very sensitive in those areas. This study was conducted in a typical semi-arid area at the Çankırı Karatekin University Campus for the purpose of analyzing spatial relationships between soil properties and the number of plant species (NPS) per square meter, which is an important indicator for desertification studies. Two transects (one normal and other parallel to the slope) were placed on north-east and another two transects on south-west aspect of a hill in the study area. Soil samples were taken from 0-5 and 5-20 cm soil depth from 5-m apart on each transect and the NPS per square meter was determined at each sampling point. The soil samples were analyzed for physical (sand, silt, clay, bulk density, field capacity, wilting point, plant available water content, aggregate stability) and chemical (pH, electrical conductivity, organic matter and CaCO3 contents) properties. Descriptive statistics were calculated for all soil variables and the NPS. The results showed that the NPS was similar in mean and coefficient of variation on all the four transects. The correlation coefficients among the measured soil variables and the NPS changed between 0 and 0.82. The correlogram analysis of soil variables and cross-correlogram analysis between soil variables and the NPS were performed. The results of geostatistical analysis showed that sand content, bulk density, plant available water content, silt content, and EC spatially related to the NPS. The results have a potential for use in studies of grassland development.

Keywords

Correlogram analysis desertification geostatistics plant diversity semi-arid graaslands

References

  • Blake, G.R., Hardge, K.H., 1986. Bulk density, in: Klute., A. (Ed.), Methods of Soil Analysis: Part 1. Physical and Mineralogical Methods. American Society of Agronomy-Soil Science Society of America, Madison, pp. 363–375.
  • Burke, I.C., Schimel, D.S., Yonker, C.M., Parton, W.J., Joyce, L.A., Lauenroth, W.K., 1990. Regional modeling of grassland biogeochemistry using GIS. Landsc. Ecol., 4, 45-54. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02573950
  • Cassel, D., Nielsen, D., 1986. Field capacity and available water capacity, in: Klute, A. (Ed.), Methods of Soil Analysis: Part 1—Physical and Mineralogical Methods. American Society of Agronomy and Soil Science Society of America, Madsion, pp. 901–926.
  • Cheng, J., Jing, G., Wei, L., Jing, Z., 2016. Long-term grazing exclusion effects on vegetation characteristics, soil properties and bacterial communities in the semi-arid grasslands of China. Ecol. Eng. 97, 170-178. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2016.09.003
  • Dingaan, M.N.V., Tsubo, M., Walker, S., Newby, T., 2017. Soil chemical properties and plant species diversity along a rainfall gradient in semi-arid grassland of South Africa. Plant Ecol. Evol. 150, 35-44. https://doi.org/10.5091/plecevo.2017.1260
  • Gee, G.W., Bauder, J.W., 1986. Particle-size analysis, in: A.Klute (Ed.), Methods of Soil Analysis: Part 1. Physical and Mineralogical Methods. American Society of Agronomy and Soil Science Society of America, Madison, pp. 383–411.
  • Güsewell, S., Koerselman, W., 2002. Variation in nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations of wetland plants. Perspect. Plant Ecol. Evol. Syst. 5, 37-61. https://doi.org/10.1078/1433-8319-0000022
  • Halvorson, J.J., Bolton Jnr, H., Smith, J.L., Rossi, R.E., 1994. Geostatistical analysis of resource islands under Artemisia tridentata in the shrub-steppe. Gt. Basin Nat. 54, 10–25. Han, S., Hummel, J.W., Goering, C.E., Cahn, M.D., 1994. Cell size selection for site-specific crop management. Trans. Am. Soc. Agric. Eng., 37, 19-26. https://doi.org/10.13031/2013.28048
  • Isaaks, H., Srivastava, E., 1989. An Introduction to Applied Geoistatistics. Oxfort University Press, N.Y.
  • Kemper, W.D., Rosenau, R.C., 1986. Aggregate stability and size distribution, in: Klute, A. (Ed.), Methods of Soil Analysis, Part 1: Physical ve Mineralogical Methods. Agronomy, ASA, SSSA, Madison, WI., pp. 425–442.
  • Kendig, A.E., Borer, E.T., Mitchell, C.E., Power, A.G., Seabloom, E.W., 2017. Characteristics and drivers of plant virus community spatial patterns in US west coast grasslands. Oikos 126, 1281–1290. https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.04178
  • Klaus, V.H., Hölzel, N., Boch, S., Müller, J., Socher, S.A., Prati, D., Fischer, M., Kleinebecker, T., 2013. Direct and indirect associations between plant species richness and productivity in grasslands: Regional differences preclude simple generalization of productivity-biodiversity relationships. Preslia 85, 97-112.
  • Lin, Y., Hong, M., Han, G., Zhao, M., Bai, Y., Chang, S.X., 2010. Grazing intensity affected spatial patterns of vegetation and soil fertility in a desert steppe. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 138, 282-292. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2010.05.013
  • Mulla, D.J., McBratney, A.B., 2002. Soil spatial variability, in: Warrick, A.W. (Ed.), Soil Physics Companion. Boca Raton, pp. 343–373.
  • Nielsen, D.R., Wendroth, O., 2003. Spatial and temporal statistics: sampling field soils and their vegetation. Catena Verlag, Germany.
  • Rossi, R.E., Mulla, D.J., Journel, A.G., Franz, E.H., 1992. Geostatistical tools for modeling and interpreting ecological spatial dependence. Ecol. Monogr. 62, 277-314. https://doi.org/10.2307/2937096
  • Schaetzl, R., Anderson, S., 2005. Soils: Genesis and Geomorphology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
  • Stein, A., Brouwer, J., Bouma, J., 1997. Methods for Comparing spatial variability patterns of millet yield and soil data. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 61, 861-870. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj1997.03615995006100030021x
  • Van der Putten, W.H., Bardgett, R.D., Bever, J.D., Bezemer, T.M., Casper, B.B., Fukami, T., Kardol, P., Klironomos, J.N., Kulmatiski, A., Schweitzer, J.A., Suding, K.N., Van de Voorde, T.F.J., Wardle, D.A., 2013. Plant-soil feedbacks: The past, the present and future challenges. J. Ecol. 101, 265–276. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.12054
  • Webster, R., 2001. Statistics to support soil research and their presentation. Eur. J. Soil Sci. 52, 330–340. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2389.2001.00383.x
  • Wei, J.-B., Xiao, D.-N., Zeng, H., Fu, Y.-K., 2008. Spatial variability of soil properties in relation to land use and topography in a typical small watershed of the black soil region, northeastern China. Environ. Geol. 53, 1663–1672. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-007-0773-z
  • Wellstein, C., Otte, A., Waldhardt, R., 2007. Impact of site and management on the diversity of central European mesic grassland. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ., 122, 203–210. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2006.12.033
  • Xue, W., Bezemer, T.M., Berendse, F., 2019. Soil heterogeneity and plant species diversity in experimental grassland communities: contrasting effects of soil nutrients and pH at different spatial scales. Plant Soil., 442, 497-509. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-019-04208-5
  • Zhao, K., Liu, X., Xu, J., Selim, H.M., 2010. Heavy metal contaminations in a soil-rice system: Identification of spatial dependence in relation to soil properties of paddy fields. J. Hazard. Mater., 181, 778-787. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2010.05.081.

Assessment of Spatial Variability of Soil Characteristics and Plant Diversity in Semi-Arid Grasslands

Year 2020, Volume: 6 Issue: 1, 1 - 8, 30.10.2020

Ülkü Yılmaz Sabit Erşahin Seval Sünal Kavaklıgil

Abstract

Semi-arid areas comprise a considerable acreage in Turkey and the vegetation cover is very sensitive in those areas. This study was conducted in a typical semi-arid area at the Çankırı Karatekin University Campus for the purpose of analyzing spatial relationships between soil properties and the number of plant species (NPS) per square meter, which is an important indicator for desertification studies. Two transects (one normal and other parallel to the slope) were placed on north-east and another two transects on south-west aspect of a hill in the study area. Soil samples were taken from 0-5 and 5-20 cm soil depth from 5-m apart on each transect and the NPS per square meter was determined at each sampling point. The soil samples were analyzed for physical (sand, silt, clay, bulk density, field capacity, wilting point, plant available water content, aggregate stability) and chemical (pH, electrical conductivity, organic matter and CaCO3 contents) properties. Descriptive statistics were calculated for all soil variables and the NPS. The results showed that the NPS was similar in mean and coefficient of variation on all the four transects. The correlation coefficients among the measured soil variables and the NPS changed between 0 and 0.82. The correlogram analysis of soil variables and cross-correlogram analysis between soil variables and the NPS were performed. The results of geostatistical analysis showed that sand content, bulk density, plant available water content, silt content, and EC spatially related to the NPS. The results have a potential for use in studies of grassland development.

Keywords

Plant diversity geostatistics correlogram analysis desertification

References

  • Blake, G.R., Hardge, K.H., 1986. Bulk density, in: Klute., A. (Ed.), Methods of Soil Analysis: Part 1. Physical and Mineralogical Methods. American Society of Agronomy-Soil Science Society of America, Madison, pp. 363–375.
  • Burke, I.C., Schimel, D.S., Yonker, C.M., Parton, W.J., Joyce, L.A., Lauenroth, W.K., 1990. Regional modeling of grassland biogeochemistry using GIS. Landsc. Ecol., 4, 45-54. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02573950
  • Cassel, D., Nielsen, D., 1986. Field capacity and available water capacity, in: Klute, A. (Ed.), Methods of Soil Analysis: Part 1—Physical and Mineralogical Methods. American Society of Agronomy and Soil Science Society of America, Madsion, pp. 901–926.
  • Cheng, J., Jing, G., Wei, L., Jing, Z., 2016. Long-term grazing exclusion effects on vegetation characteristics, soil properties and bacterial communities in the semi-arid grasslands of China. Ecol. Eng. 97, 170-178. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2016.09.003
  • Dingaan, M.N.V., Tsubo, M., Walker, S., Newby, T., 2017. Soil chemical properties and plant species diversity along a rainfall gradient in semi-arid grassland of South Africa. Plant Ecol. Evol. 150, 35-44. https://doi.org/10.5091/plecevo.2017.1260
  • Gee, G.W., Bauder, J.W., 1986. Particle-size analysis, in: A.Klute (Ed.), Methods of Soil Analysis: Part 1. Physical and Mineralogical Methods. American Society of Agronomy and Soil Science Society of America, Madison, pp. 383–411.
  • Güsewell, S., Koerselman, W., 2002. Variation in nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations of wetland plants. Perspect. Plant Ecol. Evol. Syst. 5, 37-61. https://doi.org/10.1078/1433-8319-0000022
  • Halvorson, J.J., Bolton Jnr, H., Smith, J.L., Rossi, R.E., 1994. Geostatistical analysis of resource islands under Artemisia tridentata in the shrub-steppe. Gt. Basin Nat. 54, 10–25. Han, S., Hummel, J.W., Goering, C.E., Cahn, M.D., 1994. Cell size selection for site-specific crop management. Trans. Am. Soc. Agric. Eng., 37, 19-26. https://doi.org/10.13031/2013.28048
  • Isaaks, H., Srivastava, E., 1989. An Introduction to Applied Geoistatistics. Oxfort University Press, N.Y.
  • Kemper, W.D., Rosenau, R.C., 1986. Aggregate stability and size distribution, in: Klute, A. (Ed.), Methods of Soil Analysis, Part 1: Physical ve Mineralogical Methods. Agronomy, ASA, SSSA, Madison, WI., pp. 425–442.
  • Kendig, A.E., Borer, E.T., Mitchell, C.E., Power, A.G., Seabloom, E.W., 2017. Characteristics and drivers of plant virus community spatial patterns in US west coast grasslands. Oikos 126, 1281–1290. https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.04178
  • Klaus, V.H., Hölzel, N., Boch, S., Müller, J., Socher, S.A., Prati, D., Fischer, M., Kleinebecker, T., 2013. Direct and indirect associations between plant species richness and productivity in grasslands: Regional differences preclude simple generalization of productivity-biodiversity relationships. Preslia 85, 97-112.
  • Lin, Y., Hong, M., Han, G., Zhao, M., Bai, Y., Chang, S.X., 2010. Grazing intensity affected spatial patterns of vegetation and soil fertility in a desert steppe. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 138, 282-292. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2010.05.013
  • Mulla, D.J., McBratney, A.B., 2002. Soil spatial variability, in: Warrick, A.W. (Ed.), Soil Physics Companion. Boca Raton, pp. 343–373.
  • Nielsen, D.R., Wendroth, O., 2003. Spatial and temporal statistics: sampling field soils and their vegetation. Catena Verlag, Germany.
  • Rossi, R.E., Mulla, D.J., Journel, A.G., Franz, E.H., 1992. Geostatistical tools for modeling and interpreting ecological spatial dependence. Ecol. Monogr. 62, 277-314. https://doi.org/10.2307/2937096
  • Schaetzl, R., Anderson, S., 2005. Soils: Genesis and Geomorphology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
  • Stein, A., Brouwer, J., Bouma, J., 1997. Methods for Comparing spatial variability patterns of millet yield and soil data. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 61, 861-870. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj1997.03615995006100030021x
  • Van der Putten, W.H., Bardgett, R.D., Bever, J.D., Bezemer, T.M., Casper, B.B., Fukami, T., Kardol, P., Klironomos, J.N., Kulmatiski, A., Schweitzer, J.A., Suding, K.N., Van de Voorde, T.F.J., Wardle, D.A., 2013. Plant-soil feedbacks: The past, the present and future challenges. J. Ecol. 101, 265–276. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.12054
  • Webster, R., 2001. Statistics to support soil research and their presentation. Eur. J. Soil Sci. 52, 330–340. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2389.2001.00383.x
  • Wei, J.-B., Xiao, D.-N., Zeng, H., Fu, Y.-K., 2008. Spatial variability of soil properties in relation to land use and topography in a typical small watershed of the black soil region, northeastern China. Environ. Geol. 53, 1663–1672. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-007-0773-z
  • Wellstein, C., Otte, A., Waldhardt, R., 2007. Impact of site and management on the diversity of central European mesic grassland. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ., 122, 203–210. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2006.12.033
  • Xue, W., Bezemer, T.M., Berendse, F., 2019. Soil heterogeneity and plant species diversity in experimental grassland communities: contrasting effects of soil nutrients and pH at different spatial scales. Plant Soil., 442, 497-509. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-019-04208-5
  • Zhao, K., Liu, X., Xu, J., Selim, H.M., 2010. Heavy metal contaminations in a soil-rice system: Identification of spatial dependence in relation to soil properties of paddy fields. J. Hazard. Mater., 181, 778-787. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2010.05.081.
There are 24 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Engineering
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Ülkü Yılmaz 0000-0001-5031-0523

Sabit Erşahin

Seval Sünal Kavaklıgil

Publication Date October 30, 2020
Submission Date November 4, 2019
Published in Issue Year 2020 Volume: 6 Issue: 1

Cite

APA Yılmaz, Ü., Erşahin, S., & Sünal Kavaklıgil, S. (2020). Assessment of Spatial Variability of Soil Characteristics and Plant Diversity in Semi-Arid Grasslands. Anadolu Orman Araştırmaları Dergisi, 6(1), 1-8.
AMA Yılmaz Ü, Erşahin S, Sünal Kavaklıgil S. Assessment of Spatial Variability of Soil Characteristics and Plant Diversity in Semi-Arid Grasslands. AJFR. October 2020;6(1):1-8.
Chicago Yılmaz, Ülkü, Sabit Erşahin, and Seval Sünal Kavaklıgil. “Assessment of Spatial Variability of Soil Characteristics and Plant Diversity in Semi-Arid Grasslands”. Anadolu Orman Araştırmaları Dergisi 6, no. 1 (October 2020): 1-8.
EndNote Yılmaz Ü, Erşahin S, Sünal Kavaklıgil S (October 1, 2020) Assessment of Spatial Variability of Soil Characteristics and Plant Diversity in Semi-Arid Grasslands. Anadolu Orman Araştırmaları Dergisi 6 1 1–8.
IEEE Ü. Yılmaz, S. Erşahin, and S. Sünal Kavaklıgil, “Assessment of Spatial Variability of Soil Characteristics and Plant Diversity in Semi-Arid Grasslands”, AJFR, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 1–8, 2020.
ISNAD Yılmaz, Ülkü et al. “Assessment of Spatial Variability of Soil Characteristics and Plant Diversity in Semi-Arid Grasslands”. Anadolu Orman Araştırmaları Dergisi 6/1 (October 2020), 1-8.
JAMA Yılmaz Ü, Erşahin S, Sünal Kavaklıgil S. Assessment of Spatial Variability of Soil Characteristics and Plant Diversity in Semi-Arid Grasslands. AJFR. 2020;6:1–8.
MLA Yılmaz, Ülkü et al. “Assessment of Spatial Variability of Soil Characteristics and Plant Diversity in Semi-Arid Grasslands”. Anadolu Orman Araştırmaları Dergisi, vol. 6, no. 1, 2020, pp. 1-8.
Vancouver Yılmaz Ü, Erşahin S, Sünal Kavaklıgil S. Assessment of Spatial Variability of Soil Characteristics and Plant Diversity in Semi-Arid Grasslands. AJFR. 2020;6(1):1-8.