title: Effects of legume species introduction on vegetation and soil nutrient development on abandoned croplands in a semi-arid environment on the Loess Plateau, China.
abstract: Revegetation facilitated by legume species introduction has been used for soil erosion control on the Loess Plateau, China. However, it is still unclear how vegetation and soil resources develop during this restoration process, especially over the longer term. In this study, we investigated the changes of plant aboveground biomass, vegetation cover, species richness and density of all individuals, and soil total nitrogen, mineral nitrogen, total phosphorus and available phosphorus over 11 years from 2003 to 2013 in three treatments (natural revegetation, Medicago sativa L. introduction and Melilotus suaveolens L. introduction) on the semi-arid Loess Plateau. Medicago significantly increased aboveground biomass and vegetation cover, and soil total nitrogen and mineral nitrogen contents. The Medicago treatment had lower species richness and density of all individuals, lower soil moisture in the deep soil (i.e., 1.4-5m), and lower soil available phosphorus. Melilotus introduction significantly increased aboveground biomass in only the first two years, and it was not an effective approach to improve vegetation biomass and cover, and soil nutrients, especially in later stages of revegetation. Overall, our study suggests that M. sativa can be the preferred plant species for revegetation of degraded ecosystems on the Loess Plateau, although phosphorus fertilizer should be applied for the sustainability of the revegetation.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystem, Institute of Arid Agroecology, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China; State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soil Engineering, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Science, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China.
authors.forename: Zi-Qiang
authors.initials: ZQ
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA.
authors.forename: Kai-Liang
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA.
authors.forename: Howard
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Epstein
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystem, Institute of Arid Agroecology, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystem, Institute of Arid Agroecology, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China.
authors.forename: Jun-Ting
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystem, Institute of Arid Agroecology, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China.
authors.forename: Qian-Qian
authors.initials: QQ
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystem, Institute of Arid Agroecology, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China.
authors.forename: Xue-Wei
authors.initials: XW
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystem, Institute of Arid Agroecology, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China.
authors.forename: Wen-Juan
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystem, Institute of Arid Agroecology, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China; The UWA Institute of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia, M082, Perth WA 6009 Australia. Electronic address: fmli@lzu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Feng-Min
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D002681:China; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D007887:Fabaceae / Q000502:physiology*; D058865:Introduced Species; D000455:Medicago sativa; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000032:analysis; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000032:analysis; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D012987:Soil; D010758:Phosphorus; D009584:Nitrogen
keywords: Legumes; Loess Plateau; Medicago sativa; Melilotus suaveolens; Revegetation; Soil erosion