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{"title":"Application of mass balance and unmixing model to trace sediment sources in an agricultural catchment","authors":"Yanrui Yang ,&nbsp;Jianfeng Xu ,&nbsp;Jie Chen ,&nbsp;Wei Ye ,&nbsp;Lishan Ran ,&nbsp;Kai Wang ,&nbsp;Haiming Lu ,&nbsp;Xianqiang Tang ,&nbsp;Danyang Wang ,&nbsp;Deti Xie ,&nbsp;Jiupai Ni ,&nbsp;Yongyi Cheng ,&nbsp;Fangxin Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.108846","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.108846","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Sediment deposition gives rise to a variety of environmental issues, which pose a significant threat to ecological safety. Information regarding the sources of topsoil and sediment sinks in the catchment is crucial for understanding the soil erosion process and can aid in the development of targeted catchment management strategies. Fingerprinting models, such as the mass balance and unmixing models, are important quantitative tools for identifying erosion sources and sinks. This study aims to quantify sediment sources in an agricultural catchment and compare the effectiveness of the genetic algorithm-based mass balance model with the Monte Carlo-based unmixing model within the composite fingerprint technique for tracing sediment. Topsoil samples representing four land use types (i.e., slope farmlands, terrace fields, river banks, and road banks) and four geological units (i.e., J₂s, J₃sn, J₃p, and Qh) were selected as potential sediment sources, while sediment samples collected over three years from Changshou Lake were used as sink samples. The mass balance model results indicated that the average contributions from slope farmlands, terrace fields, river banks, and road banks were 70.8 %, 3.0 %, 22.1 %, and 4.1 %, respectively. Contributions from J₂s, J₃sn, J₃p, and Qh were 22.3 %, 66.6 %, 5.2 %, and 5.9 %, respectively. In contrast, the unmixing model results indicated that road banks and J₃sn were the primary contributors to sediment sources in the agricultural catchment. This can be attributed to factors such as steep topography, frequent agricultural activities, and road construction, which made slope farmlands and road banks the primary sources of sediment. Due to their intrinsic physical properties, J₃sn and J₂s weather more rapidly, have shorter migration paths, and are frequently subject to agricultural production activities, making them major contributors to sediment. Both models allow for the quantification of sediment sources through geochemical fingerprints. However, the genetic algorithm-based mass balance model was chosen for this study due to its higher goodness-of-fit (GOF) and lower uncertainties. The average GOFs of the mass balance model were 91.5 % for land use and 94.2 % for geological units. The findings of this study provide a scientific foundation for sediment source modeling and comprehensive catchment erosion management, as well as a more accurate guide for the application of the mass balance and unmixing models in sediment source studies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9801,"journal":{"name":"Catena","volume":"252 ","pages":"Article 108846"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143478941","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The impact of irrigated agriculture on landslide activity: A spatio-temporal analysis in Heifangtai, China","authors":"Lina Hao ,&nbsp;Qiang Xu ,&nbsp;Cees van Westen ,&nbsp;K.S. Sajinkumar ,&nbsp;Kuanyao Zhao ,&nbsp;Dehao Xiu ,&nbsp;Xiao Yang ,&nbsp;Wanlin Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.108844","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.108844","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Heifangtai loess terrace in Gansu Province (China) suffered from frequent irrigation-induced landslides. In the past 50 years, the perennial channel irrigation has resulted in 210 slope failures within a small area of 9 km². The landslide activity is particularly linked with the cultivation of vegetables, which need more frequent channel irrigation compared to other crops. In order to reveal the long-term relationship between the recurrent landslides and irrigation intensity variations induced by land use changes, we used remotely sensed images from different sources, covering a period of 59 years, to map land use changes as well as to create a landslide inventory. Based on field surveys, samples of land use and vegetation phenology were studied, which were used in classification using a random forest classifier based on synergy multi-temporal Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) for characterizing features during a crop cycle. A landslide inventory was created by visual interpretation of images and comparison of landslide maps from literature. Based on the land use map and crop irrigation frequency, the irrigation intensity of all the crop types was calculated. For studying the interaction of horizontal and vertical water infiltration over long periods, kernel density estimation (KDE) was applied to identify irrigation hotspot areas, which were used to correlate with slope failure hotspots. Furthermore, temporal and spatial relationship was analyzed among the landslide density, land use, and irrigation intensity. The results of this study showed that irrigation intensity varied with changes in land use as well as agriculture technology, which was later correlated with landslide sensitivity. Most of the landslides in Heifangtai (90 %) were loess landslides, which were retrogressive with a small average area and the recurrence was intensified after vegetable cultivation; bedrock landslide occurred a little more frequently before vegetable cultivation initiated and has large average area. This study revealed that the hotspots of recurrent loess landslides were near the hotspot irrigation areas and local groundwater table dome, which were in the concave edges with groundwater seepage in the loess layer. This study is also the first to evaluate the annual irrigation volume and the time for recent Groundwater Table (GWT) distribution, and implies that irrigation water management in arid farming areas was effective and viable for landslide preventing.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9801,"journal":{"name":"Catena","volume":"252 ","pages":"Article 108844"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143471728","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Non-destructive detection of soil volumetric water content in reclaimed soils in an opencast coal mine using hyperbolic reflection in GPR images","authors":"Tiantian Ye ,&nbsp;Jingpeng Wang ,&nbsp;Jinman Wang ,&nbsp;Yu Feng","doi":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.108845","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.108845","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The mining and reclamation of opencast coal mines affect the soil volumetric water content (SVWC<span><span>¹</span></span>). An accurate measurement of the SVWC is critical for land reclamation. However, traditional methods often damage the soil structure and are time-consuming. Thus, a rapid and non-destructive method is required to measure the SVWC in reclaimed mining areas. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of using ground penetrating radar (GPR) for estimating SVWC in reclaimed mining areas. We obtained GPR data and collected soil profile samples from the South Dump of the Antaibao opencast coal mine in Pinglu District, Shuozhou City, Shanxi Province. Random Hough transformation and inverse distance weighted interpolation were used to analyze the two-dimensional soil water layer thickness (SWLT) and SVWC in different soil layers and profiles. The radar estimated and the sampling measured value of SVWC were consistent with the soil depth. The Pearson correlation coefficient (<em>r</em>) between the radar estimated and the sampling measured values of SVWC was 0.850 in different soil layers, the lowest root mean squared error (<em>RMSE</em>) was 0.43%, and the lowest relative root mean square error (<em>RRMSE</em>) was 3.80%. The <em>r</em> was up to 0.959, the lowest <em>RMSE</em> was 0.58% to 0.90%, and the lowest <em>RRMSE</em> was 1.46% in different profiles. These results demonstrate the method’s feasibility and effectiveness, enabling the precise non-destructive estimation of SVWC. The results provide valuable technical support for the efficient reclamation and restoration of mining areas.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9801,"journal":{"name":"Catena","volume":"252 ","pages":"Article 108845"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143464981","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Drivers of soil organic carbon stocks at village scale in a sub-humid region of Zimbabwe","authors":"Rumbidzai W. Nyawasha ,&nbsp;Gatien N. Falconnier ,&nbsp;Pierre Todoroff ,&nbsp;Alexandre M.J.-C. Wadoux ,&nbsp;Regis Chikowo ,&nbsp;Adrien Coquereau ,&nbsp;Louise Leroux ,&nbsp;Camille Jahel ,&nbsp;Marc Corbeels ,&nbsp;Rémi Cardinael","doi":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.108843","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.108843","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Land use change caused by agriculture and inappropriate agricultural management cause soil organic carbon (SOC) loss. This study was conducted in a smallholder communal area of Zimbabwe with the following objectives: i) to quantify SOC stocks under contrasting land uses and soil types, and estimate landscape-level SOC stocks, ii) to assess the impact of historical agricultural management parctices on SOC in croplands (homefields vs outfields), and iii) to estimate temporal changes in SOC stocks due to land use change using field measurements and geospatial data (Africa Soil Information Service, AfSIS). SOC stocks were measured across three soil types and eight land uses (croplands, gardens, fallows, grasslands, vleis, shrublands, forests and tree plantations) at soil depths of 0–20 and 20–40 cm. Estimates from AfSIS were also used for comparison. SOC stocks were highest on black clay soils (66.9 ± 2.30 Mg C/ha), followed by red clay soils (36.1 ± 2.04 Mg C/ha) and sandy soils (25.5 ± 0.59 Mg C/ha). Among land uses, SOC stocks were highest in vleis (67.9 ± 3.55 Mg C/ha), followed by gardens (56.4 ± 2.34 Mg C/ha) and grasslands (53.1 ± 6.18 Mg C/ha). Croplands on sandy soils had the lowest stocks (22.7 ± 0.77 Mg C/ha). Distance from homestead had no significant effect on SOC stocks. SOC stocks estimated by AfSIS were systematically underestimated in vleis, grasslands and gardens, resulting in a 20 % underestimation of landscape SOC stocks. Landscape SOC stocks declined slightly (−0.2 %) from 2002 to 2023, though the change was not statistically significant. Our findings highlight that SOC stocks hotspots are concentrated in vleis, gardens and grasslands, mostly within communal grazing lands. Their conservation should therefore be a priority, emphasizing the need for collective management. On the other hand, restoration of degraded croplands could be enhanced by strenghtening linkages between cultivated fields and communal grazing lands through improved livestock management.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9801,"journal":{"name":"Catena","volume":"252 ","pages":"Article 108843"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143471727","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Divergent invasive and native wetland plant microbial community responses to estuarine wetland salinity gradients","authors":"Zongsheng Yuan ,&nbsp;Huanhuan Rao ,&nbsp;Ziwen Ren ,&nbsp;Hao Xue ,&nbsp;Yingzi Wang ,&nbsp;PingPing Guo ,&nbsp;Yongji Huang ,&nbsp;Yange Zhang ,&nbsp;Zonghua Wang ,&nbsp;Songbiao Chen ,&nbsp;Yingjiao Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.108842","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.108842","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The invasion of non-native species such as <em>Spartina alterniflora</em> threatens estuarine wetland ecosystems. Understanding how salinity influences the root and rhizosphere microbial communities remains limited. This study investigated the impacts of natural estuarine salinity gradients on root and rhizosphere microbial communities in invasive <em>S. alterniflora</em> versus native <em>Phragmites australis</em>. <em>S. alterniflora</em> exhibited pronounced rhizosphere nutrient advantages under both low- and high-salinity conditions, particularly in high-salinity environments. Both plant species maintained stable bacterial and fungal diversity and richness within root endospheres. Notably, fungal richness in S<em>. alterniflora</em> roots was correlated with pH, available nitrogen (AN), and available potassium (AK), whereas <em>P. australis</em> demonstrated no associations between fungal parameters (diversity and richness) and soil properties, suggesting a stronger coupling between the endophytic fungi in <em>S. alterniflora</em> and rhizosphere pH and nutrient status. Rhizospheric bacterial richness and diversity displayed minimal interspecific differences under low-moderate salinity, but marked differences emerged under high salinity, revealing salinity-dependent bacterial community differentiation linked to plant species. Both species had similar effects on rhizospheric fungi, and showed no apparent salinity tolerance advantage in the fungal communities of<!--> <em>S. alterniflora</em>. Salinity-mediated alterations in microbial network complexity displayed plant species-specific patterns. Our study underscores the crucial role of microbial communities in the successful invasion of <em>S. alterniflora</em> and offers valuable insights for managing and restoring estuarine wetlands.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9801,"journal":{"name":"Catena","volume":"252 ","pages":"Article 108842"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143464434","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of iron/aluminum mineral phases on soil organic carbon storage in different clay soils of subtropical acidic forests","authors":"Yi Li ,&nbsp;Chen-chen Wang ,&nbsp;Cui Zou ,&nbsp;Yang Zhao ,&nbsp;Pei Wei ,&nbsp;Yu-ying Liu ,&nbsp;Xiao-jun Zhao ,&nbsp;Dun-mei Lin ,&nbsp;Xian-jin He ,&nbsp;Jun-long Huang ,&nbsp;Jin-song Guo ,&nbsp;Guang-yu Zhu","doi":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.108853","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.108853","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Mineral carbon pump (MnCP) is the dominant mechanism for stabilizing soil organic carbon (SOC) in acidic forests. However, the influence of iron (Fe)/aluminum (Al) mineral phases on SOC storage mediated by soil clay remains unclear. Here, we selected 22 subtropical acidic forests with a wide range of clay content, and quantified the organic carbon (OC) associated with organo-Fe/Al complexes, crystalline minerals, and short-range-order (SRO) minerals by sodium-pyrophosphate (PP), dithionite-HCl (DH), and HCl-hydroxylamine (HH) extractions, respectively, and then constructed a structural equation model (SEM) for SOC accumulation. The results showed that the Fe/Al phase content was followed by crystalline minerals, Fe/Al-complexes, and short-range-order (SRO) minerals, with a clear increasing trend along the clay content gradient. Associated OC of organo-Fe/Al complexes, crystalline, and SRO minerals were 6.25 mg g⁻¹, 6.11 mg g⁻¹, and 1.14 mg g⁻¹, and accounted for 26.98 %, 26.31 %, and 4.95 % of SOC, respectively. The average dissolved molar OC to metals (C/M) ratios were 5.13 (ranging from 1.57 to 19.23) and suggested the binding mechanisms between Fe/Al phases and OC were governed by adsorption and co-precipitation. SEM revealed that metal-bound OC (MOC), cation exchange capacity (CEC), and mean weight diameter (MWD) jointly explained 62 % of the variability in SOC, with CEC being the most important variable. Clay particles enhanced CEC and MWD by providing more cation binding sites and acting as cementing agents in aggregation through Fe/Al phases, and combined with soil water content (SWC) and soil pH collectively contributed to SOC storage. These findings suggest that Fe/Al phases may control a substantial fraction of soil carbon in acidic forests, and Fe/Al complexes and pedogenic minerals may play more important roles in SOC accumulation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9801,"journal":{"name":"Catena","volume":"252 ","pages":"Article 108853"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143464435","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Moisture and root systems affect the turnover of soil aggregates during various crop growth periods","authors":"Yikai Zhao ,&nbsp;Yu Fu ,&nbsp;Jinzhong Xu ,&nbsp;Yu Li ,&nbsp;Yupeng Zhang ,&nbsp;Xiaoya Zhang ,&nbsp;Hanzhe Lei","doi":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.108840","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.108840","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Soil moisture conditions and crop root growth collectively influence the turnover (breakdown–buildup) of soil aggregates during different crop growth periods. However, evaluations of these effects under actual field conditions have been limited. Therefore, aggregates of Mollisols from cultivated land (1–10 cm) were taken as the research objects. Aggregates in four size fractions (A: 5–2 mm, B: 2–0.25 mm, C: 0.25–0.053 mm, D: &lt; 0.053 mm) were tracked using the rare earth element (REE) tracing method during soybean growth periods (Ⅰ: planting, Ⅱ: emergence, Ⅲ: second trifoliolate, Ⅳ: fifth trifoliolate, Ⅴ: full bloom, Ⅵ: full pod, Ⅶ: full seed, VIII: harvest). The key findings were as follows: i) The aggregate composition was predominantly size fraction C, which accounted for 34.53–43.41 % during the soybean growth periods. The mean weight diameter (<em>MWD</em>) displayed a bimodal pattern, with peaks of 0.44 and 0.41 observed in II and VI, respectively. ii) Approximately 33.13–46.16 % of the aggregates in size fractions A and B tended to break into size fraction C during soybean growth, with neighboring size fractions contributing 18.62–48.60 % to the aggregate formation process. The turnover rate (<em>TR</em>) of size fraction D was the highest. iii) Soil moisture conditions were significantly correlated with the <em>TR</em> of each size fraction during the growth periods (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.05). iv) The root morphological characteristics of the &lt; 2 mm aggregates were significantly negatively correlated with the <em>TRs</em> of size fractions B and C in V, but positively correlated with the <em>TRs</em> of size fractions B, C and D in VI. The study reveals significant variations in aggregate turnover patterns across different growth stages, providing valuable insights into the evolution of soil structural properties in cultivated lands.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9801,"journal":{"name":"Catena","volume":"252 ","pages":"Article 108840"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143455114","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Temporal and spatial climate changes in the mid-Baltic region in the Late Glacial and the Holocene: Pollen-based reconstructions","authors":"Laura Gedminienė ,&nbsp;Andrej Spiridonov ,&nbsp;Miglė Stančikaitė ,&nbsp;Žana Skuratovič ,&nbsp;Giedrė Vaikutienė ,&nbsp;Liudas Daumantas ,&nbsp;J. Sakari Salonen","doi":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.108851","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.108851","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigates vegetation patterns and presents quantitative pollen-based climate reconstructions in the Baltic region spanning the Late Glacial and Holocene periods, addressing knowledge gaps regarding the climate history and its impact on ecosystems. We prepared climate reconstruction from fossil pollen samples using the Modern Analog Technique (MAT). The MAT reconstructions were validated by comparing them to outputs from an ensemble of complementary reconstruction methods. Reconstructions were based on pollen data from the Dūkštelis palaeolake in southeastern Lithuania and three previously studied sites, providing a broad geographical and temporal range in Lithuania. The analysis of the Dūkštelis palaeolake reveals divergent trends between mean winter and summer temperatures (MWT and MST) observed at about 14.0, 12.8, 9.7, 3.2, 2.7, 2.4, and 1.4 kyr, with varying degrees of deviation from modern levels across seasons and locations. MWT increases are mostly linked to higher precipitation. Tripartite reversals with a notable temperature increase were observed during the second part of the Greenland Stadial- 1 event, with colder MST in the western Lithuania. Gradual summer warming, likely influenced by solar irradiance, was seen during the Early Holocene; the most prominent change, however, is observable in MWT, particularly in the western region, with modern values reached at about 10.4 kyr. MWT during the Holocene Thermal Maximum is estimated to be approximately 3 °C higher in eastern Lithuania and 5–6 °C higher in the western part than present levels. Uncertainties arise in temperature reconstructions from approximately 3.3 kyr due to anthropogenic landscape changes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9801,"journal":{"name":"Catena","volume":"252 ","pages":"Article 108851"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143454848","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Factors driving inorganic carbon levels in the soils of the conterminous USA","authors":"Gafur Gozukara ,&nbsp;Alfred E. Hartemink ,&nbsp;Yakun Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.108841","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.108841","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Soil inorganic carbon (SIC) has a significant role in the global carbon cycle. The controlling factors on SIC levels and in particular its relation to the soil pH require further study. Here, we analyzed long-term data (63,486 soil samples from 9,998 pedons) from 1950 to 2018, collected across the conterminous United States, to unravel factors controlling SIC. SIC ranged from 0.1–11.8 % at the soil pH of 4.1–10.4. The highest SIC levels were found when the soil pH was 8. Extremely alkaline (pH &gt; 8.5) conditions are not effective in promoting SIC accumulation. An inverse correlation was found between SIC and soil organic carbon (SOC). Using a structural equation model (SEM), topographic features (aspect, elevation, slope, and hillshade) were key drivers when the soil pH was lower than 6.5. In general, SIC levels increased up to about 80 cm depth. Our findings indicate that soil pH was a key driver on the existence of SIC. These findings revealed the complex relationships that regulate SIC, especially the role of soil pH, and underscored the importance of diverse environmental factors when evaluating SIC dynamics.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9801,"journal":{"name":"Catena","volume":"252 ","pages":"Article 108841"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143455115","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Response of soil infiltration and water to orchard mulching practices in the Loess Plateau, China","authors":"Yang Liao ,&nbsp;Lingbo Dong ,&nbsp;Wenwen Lv ,&nbsp;Jingwei Shi ,&nbsp;Jianzhao Wu ,&nbsp;Ao Li ,&nbsp;Hailong Zhang ,&nbsp;Ruihua Bai ,&nbsp;Yulin Liu ,&nbsp;Jiwei Li ,&nbsp;Zhouping Shangguan ,&nbsp;Lei Deng","doi":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.108848","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.catena.2025.108848","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Mulching practices, widely applied in arid and semi-arid areas, regulates terrestrial hydrological processes in agricultural soils. However, the mechanism by which mulching practices influence soil infiltration and water on the Loess Plateau remains unclear. Field experiments were conducted in October 2022 to investigate the variations in soil infiltration capacity and water storage under different mulching practices: straw mulching, rape intercropping mulching, and conventional tillage. Compared to conventional tillage, straw mulching showed faster infiltration rates both in topsoil and subsoil, whereas rape intercropping mulching had lower subsoil infiltration rates. Soil moisture replenishment was 25.4 % higher in the topsoil and 10.2 % higher in the subsoil under straw mulching. A porous soil structure, stable aggregates, abundant organic matter, and roots improved the infiltration capacity, whereas biocrusts impeded infiltration. Owing to the different traits of plough pan between treatments, subsoil had great effect (49.3 %) on topsoil infiltration changes. Straw mulching showed 18 % higher soil water storage (<em>p</em> &lt; 0.05) at 0–100 cm depth, whereas rape intercropping mulching did not result in significant changes (<em>p</em> &gt; 0.05). Both tillage frequency and understory biomass can indirectly affect soil infiltration and water storage by impacting the bulk density, porosity, aggregates, and organic matter. Understory biomass can also directly affect soil water storage by regulating rainfall distribution and reducing evaporation. These findings offer new insights into soil hydrological processes in agro-ecosystems of arid areas.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9801,"journal":{"name":"Catena","volume":"252 ","pages":"Article 108848"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143454849","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}