Soil Quality Assessment and Influencing Factors of Different Land Use Types in Red Bed Desertification Regions: A Case Study of Nanxiong, China

作者：Feng-xia SI, Binghui Chen, Bojun Wang, Wen‐Jun Li, Chunlin Zhu, Jiafang Fu, Bo Yu, Guoliang Xu · 发表于：Land · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.3390/land13081265 · 被引用次数：12 · 研究领域：Soil and Land Suitability Analysis、Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics、Geochemistry and Geologic Mapping

Soil environmental issues in the red bed region are increasingly conspicuous, underscoring the critical importance of assessing soil quality for the region’s sustainable development and ecosystem security. This study examines six distinct land use types of soils—agricultural land (AL), woodland (WL), shrubland (SL), grassland (GL), bare rock land (BRL), and red bed erosion land (REL)—in the Nanxiong Basin of northern Guangdong Province. This area typifies red bed desertification in South China. Principal component analysis (PCA) was employed to establish a minimum data set (MDS) for calculating the soil quality index (SQI), evaluating soil quality, analyzing influencing factors, and providing suggestions for ecological restoration in desertification areas. The study findings indicate that a minimal data set comprising soil organic matter (SOM), pH, available phosphorus (AP), exchangeable calcium (Ca2+), and available copper (A-Cu) is most suitable for evaluating soil quality in the red bed desertification areas of the humid region in South China. Additionally, we emphasize that exchangeable salt ions and available trace elements should be pivotal considerations in assessing soil quality within desertification areas. Regarding comprehensive soil quality indicators across various land use types, the red bed erosion soils exhibited the lowest quality, followed by those in bare rock areas and forest land. Within the minimal data set, Ca2+ and pH contributed the most to overall so...