Articles | Volume 7, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-333-2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-333-2021
Original research article
 | 
02 Jul 2021
Original research article |  | 02 Jul 2021

Significant soil degradation is associated with intensive vegetable cropping in a subtropical area: a case study in southwestern China

Ming Lu, David S. Powlson, Yi Liang, Dave R. Chadwick, Shengbi Long, Dunyi Liu, and Xinping Chen

Related authors

The distribution of phosphorus from recycled fertilizers to different soil fractions determines the phosphorus availability in soil
Yuan Wang, Wei Zhang, Torsten Müller, Prakash Lakshmanan, Yu Liu, Tao Liang, Lin Wang, Huaiyu Yang, and Xinping Chen
SOIL Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2021-127,https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2021-127, 2021
Revised manuscript not accepted
Short summary

Related subject area

Soil degradation
Mapping land degradation risk due to land susceptibility to dust emission and water erosion
Mahdi Boroughani, Fahimeh Mirchooli, Mojtaba Hadavifar, and Stephanie Fiedler
SOIL, 9, 411–423, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-411-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-411-2023, 2023
Short summary
Validating plutonium-239+240 as a novel soil redistribution tracer – a comparison to measured sediment yield
Katrin Meusburger, Paolo Porto, Judith Kobler Waldis, and Christine Alewell
SOIL, 9, 399–409, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-399-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-399-2023, 2023
Short summary
Quantification of the effects of long-term straw return on soil organic matter spatiotemporal variation: a case study in a typical black soil region
Yang Yan, Wenjun Ji, Baoguo Li, Guiman Wang, Songchao Chen, Dehai Zhu, and Zhong Liu
SOIL, 9, 351–364, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-351-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-351-2023, 2023
Short summary
Does soil thinning change soil erodibility? An exploration of long-term erosion feedback systems
Pedro V. G. Batista, Daniel L. Evans, Bernardo M. Cândido, and Peter Fiener
SOIL, 9, 71–88, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-71-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-71-2023, 2023
Short summary
Dynamics of carbon loss from an Arenosol by a forest to vineyard land use change on a centennial scale
Solène Quéro, Christine Hatté, Sophie Cornu, Adrien Duvivier, Nithavong Cam, Floriane Jamoteau, Daniel Borschneck, and Isabelle Basile-Doelsch
SOIL, 8, 517–539, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-517-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-517-2022, 2022
Short summary

Cited articles

Bai, Y., Jin, J., and Yang, L.F: Study on the content and distribution of soil available magnesium and foreground of magnesium fertilizer in China, Soil Fert. Sci. China, 2, 3–5, 2004 (in Chinese). 
Bai, Z., Li, H., Yang, X., Zhou, B., Shi, X., Wang, B., Li, D., Shen, J., Chen, Q., Qin, W., Oenema, O., and Zhang, F.: The critical soil P levels for crop yield, soil fertility and environmental safety in different soil types, Plant Soil, 372, 27–37, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-013-1696-y, 2013. 
Bünemann, E. K., Bongiorno, G., Bai, Z., Creamer, R. E., Deyn, G. D., Goede, R., Fleskens, L., Geissen V., Kuyper, T. W., Mäder, P., Pulleman, M., Sukkel, W., Groenigen J. W., and Brussaard, L.: Soil quality – A critical review, Soil Biol. Biochem., 120, 105–125, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2018.01.030, 2018. 
Cakmak, I. and Yazici, A. M.: Magnesium: a forgotten element in crop production, Better Crops Plant Food, 94, 23–25, 2010. 
Cao, N., Chen, X., Cui, Z., and Zhang, F.: Change in soil available phosphorus in relation to the phosphorus budget in China, Nutr. Cycl. Agroecosys., 94, 161–170, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-012-9530-0, 2012. 
Download
Short summary
Land use changes are an important anthropogenic perturbation that can cause soil degradation, but the impacts of land conversion from growing cereals to vegetables have received little attention. Using a combination of soil analyses from paired sites and data from farmer surveys, we found significant soil degradation in intensive vegetable cropping under paddy rice–oilseed rape rotation in southwestern China. This study may alert others to the potential land degradation in the subtropics.