Scholarlink

Purpose <p>Karst regions in Southwest China are confronted with severe ecological challenges due to rocky desertification and intensive agricultural practices, which exacerbate soil degradation and threaten the stability of the ecosystem. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate quality and degradation of the soils in this region under different farmland-use types.</p> Methods <p>This study evaluated soil quality under different types of farmland use in a karst peak-cluster lowland area, including dragon fruit field (HF), cornfield (CF), sugarcane field (SF), and paddy field (PF), with forestland and grassland being selected as control. A total of 23 indicators, including physicochemical and microbial properties, were used for soil quality evaluation in this study. Soil quality indices (SQI) were constructed using factor analysis (FA) and network analysis (NA) to identify a minimum data set (MDS).</p> Results <p>The MDS indicators through the FA method were silt, clay, total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), fungal abundance-based coverage estimator (ACE) index (FA), bacterial ACE index (BA), and fungal Simpson index (FSP). Soil quality indicators identified through the NA approach were sand, bacterial Simpson index (BSP), and fungal observed species (FOP). Soil quality in karst region is significantly affected by agricultural management practices. HF exhibited a higher SQI, while SF had a lower SQI. This difference may be attributed to the conservation tillage practices implemented in HF, which improved soil quality, whereas the cultivation of the nutrient-intensive crop, sugarcane, in SF contributed to exacerbated soil degradation. The SQI derived from NA exhibited higher max/min ratios (1.49) compared to that from FA (1.29). Therefore, NA proved to be a simpler and more stable tool than FA for computing the SQI, as it reduced data redundancy and more effectively differentiated changes in land use.</p> Conclusion <p>Sustainable land management practices like conservation tillage are critical for improving soil quality and mitigating degradation in karst regions. Network analysis demonstrates strong potential as an effective approach for soil quality assessment, offering valuable insights for optimizing agricultural practices and conserving fragile karst ecosystems.</p> Graphical abstract <p></p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

Using network and factor analysis to determine the soil quality and degradation under different farmland-use types in karst regions of Southwest China

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年10月13日

查看全文
  • Yanmei Zhu,
  • Jianbing Zhang,
  • Weiqun Luo,
  • Wei Zhou,
  • Shijie Dou,
  • Danliang Fang,
  • Shenglin Wang

摘要

Purpose

Karst regions in Southwest China are confronted with severe ecological challenges due to rocky desertification and intensive agricultural practices, which exacerbate soil degradation and threaten the stability of the ecosystem. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate quality and degradation of the soils in this region under different farmland-use types.

Methods

This study evaluated soil quality under different types of farmland use in a karst peak-cluster lowland area, including dragon fruit field (HF), cornfield (CF), sugarcane field (SF), and paddy field (PF), with forestland and grassland being selected as control. A total of 23 indicators, including physicochemical and microbial properties, were used for soil quality evaluation in this study. Soil quality indices (SQI) were constructed using factor analysis (FA) and network analysis (NA) to identify a minimum data set (MDS).

Results

The MDS indicators through the FA method were silt, clay, total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), fungal abundance-based coverage estimator (ACE) index (FA), bacterial ACE index (BA), and fungal Simpson index (FSP). Soil quality indicators identified through the NA approach were sand, bacterial Simpson index (BSP), and fungal observed species (FOP). Soil quality in karst region is significantly affected by agricultural management practices. HF exhibited a higher SQI, while SF had a lower SQI. This difference may be attributed to the conservation tillage practices implemented in HF, which improved soil quality, whereas the cultivation of the nutrient-intensive crop, sugarcane, in SF contributed to exacerbated soil degradation. The SQI derived from NA exhibited higher max/min ratios (1.49) compared to that from FA (1.29). Therefore, NA proved to be a simpler and more stable tool than FA for computing the SQI, as it reduced data redundancy and more effectively differentiated changes in land use.

Conclusion

Sustainable land management practices like conservation tillage are critical for improving soil quality and mitigating degradation in karst regions. Network analysis demonstrates strong potential as an effective approach for soil quality assessment, offering valuable insights for optimizing agricultural practices and conserving fragile karst ecosystems.

Graphical abstract