Abstract:

The main successional stages including grassland, Pinus massoniana dominated forests, Schima superba dominated forests and Castanopsis fargesii dominated forests in the Tiantong region, were selected to examine temporal trends of soil profile and carbon density. The results showed: (1) soil physical and chemical properties exhibited contrasting temporal patterns, with proportion of soil particulates, soil organic matter and soil moisture (10~20 cm) displaying a gradual increasing trends through succession, and with soil pH and soil bulk density generally decreasing with time; (2) soil carbon density was the lowest in the intermediate layer (10~20 cm) along soil profile, and was “Ushaped” through succession; and (3) among soil properties, proportion of soil particulates was positively correlated with soil moisture and negatively correlated with soil bulk density; soil organic carbon positively correlated with soil carbon density. It is concluded that soil physical and chemical properties substantially improve during secondary succession of evergreen broadleaved forests.

Key words: soil profile, soil organic carbon density, soil mechanism composition, soil pH , succession, soil profile, soil organic carbon density, soil mechanism composition, soil pH