Browsing by Author "Song, Zhaoliang"

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    Bedrock geochemistry influences vegetation growth by regulating the regolith water holding capacity
    (Nature Publishing Group: Nature Communications, 2020-05-13) Jiang, Zihan; Liu, Hongyan; Wang, Hongya; Peng, Jian; Meersmans, Jeroen; Green, Sophie M.; Quine, Timothy; Wu, Xiuchen; Song, Zhaoliang
    Although low vegetation productivity has been observed in karst regions, whether and how bedrock geochemistry contributes to the low karstic vegetation productivity remain unclear. In this study, we address this knowledge gap by exploring the importance of bedrock geochemistry on vegetation productivity based on a critical zone investigation across a typical karst region in Southwest China. We show silicon and calcium concentrations in bedrock are strongly correlated with the regolith water loss rate (RWLR), while RWLR can predict vegetation productivity more effectively than previous models. Furthermore, the analysis based on 12 selected karst regions worldwide further suggest that lithological regulation has the potential to obscure and distort the influence of climate change. Our study implies that bedrock geochemistry could exert effects on vegetation growth in karst regions and highlights that the critical role of bedrock geochemistry for the karst region should not be ignored in the earth system model
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    Ecosystem service delivery in Karst landscapes: anthropogenic perturbation and recovery
    (Springer, 2017-06-09) Quine, Timothy; Guo, Dali; Green, Sophie M.; Tu, Chenglong; Hartley, Iain; Zhang, Xinyu; Dungait, Jennifer; Wen, Xuefa; Song, Zhaoliang; Liu, Hongyan; Buss, Heather; Barrows, Timothy; Evershed, Richard; Johnes, Penny; Meersmans, Jeroen
    Covering extensive parts of China, Karst landscapes are exceptional because rapid and intensive land use change has caused severe ecosystem degradation within only the last 50 years. The twentieth century intensification in food production through agriculture has led to a rapid deterioration of soil quality, evidenced in reduced crop production and rapid loss of soil. In many areas, a tipping point appears to have been passed as basement rock is exposed and ‘rocky desertification’ dominates. Through the establishment of the “Soil processes and ecological services in the karst critical zone of SW China” (SPECTRA) Critical Zone Observatory (CZO) we will endevaour to understand the fundmental processes involved in soil production and erosion, and investigate the integrated geophysical-geochemical-ecological responses of the CZ to perturbations. The CZ spans a gradient from undisturbed natural vegetation through human perturbed landscapes. We seek to understand the importance of heterogeneity in surface and below-ground morphology and flow pathways in determining the spatial distribution of key stocks (soil, C, vegetation, etc.) and their control on ecosystem service delivery. We will assess the extent to which the highly heterogeneous critical zone resources can be restored to enable sustainable delivery of ecosystem services. This paper presents the CZO design and initial assessment of soil and soil organic carbon stocks and evidence for their stability based on caesium-137 (137Cs) data.