Response of soil inorganic nitrogen dynamics to planting age and vegetation type in artificial sand‐fixing land

Abstract

AbstractVegetation restoration in dryland regions may be a powerful way to control desertification and promote local habitat recovery. In these artificial revegetation systems, ecosystem processes and functioning are strongly determined by nitrogen (N) availability, while soil inorganic N (SIN) is the major available N form and is absorbed as a main N source for plants. However, SIN dynamics, their influencing factors, and their relative importance to the ecosystem of these N‐limited systems are not well understood. A field investigation was conducted to examine the monthly variations in SIN and its response to planting age and vegetation type in a typical artificial sand‐fixing system in northwestern China. The SIN content in topsoil (0–20 cm) during the growing season ranged from 7.10 to 95.65 mg kg−1, with a mean value of 27.14 mg kg−1. Soil nitrate N had a dominant role in determining SIN monthly dynamics, which showed a fluctuating trend with two peak values in early July and late August. SIN showed a significant increasing trend with the planting age of sand‐fixing vegetation, and it was highest for Nitraria sphaerocarpa (55.66 ± 5.76 mg kg−1), followed by Haloxylon ammodendron (29.81 ± 3.47 mg kg−1) and interspace (11.39 ± 1.13 mg kg−1). SIN displayed a hump‐shaped relationship with air temperature (R2 = 0.96, p < 0.01) and had a maximum at 19.88°C. The change rate of SIN was positively correlated with accumulated precipitation (R2 = 0.99, p < 0.05). SIN was correlated significantly with soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), and soil clay content. Our results revealed that climatic (air temperature and precipitation), abiotic (soil texture), plant (planting age and vegetation type), and nutrient‐related (SOC and TN) factors regulate SIN dynamics in artificial sand‐fixing vegetation systems. Climate was the predominant factor affecting soil ammonium N, and soil nutrients (SOC and TN) were the predominant factor affecting soil nitrate N. Therefore, these factors should be integrated into optimizing regional vegetation establishment and improving ecosystem management practices in sand‐fixing lands.