Analysis of soil properties in gully banks under different coverage of Kudzu in a dry-hot valley region

Gully banks are the most severely affected parts of dry-hot valley gully ecosystems,which are characterized by contradictions between heat,shallow water,and barren soil. To evaluate the effects of Kudzu cover on soil properties and lay a foundation for soil improvement and vegetation restoration on gully banks. We choose gully banks covered by Kudzu as the research object and designated five treatments,including a control group(CK: 0 g/m~2),fresh vegetation cover(T1:309.70 g/m~2),and withered vegetation cover(T2: 594.34 g/m~2,T3: 1103.43 g/m~2,and T4: 1693.27 g/m~2) to analyze the effects of different Kudzu cover on soil properties. In comparison with CK,the results showed that(1) the soil covered by withered Kudzu retained soil moisture,whereas those covered by fresh Kudzu had significantly less soil moisture.(2) The soilcovered by fresh Kudzu was lower in soil organic matter,ammonium nitrogen,nitrate nitrogen,available phosphorus,and available potassium,whereas the soil covered by withered Kudzu had high soil nutrient content that increased with increase in vegetation biomass.(3) The soil covered by Kudzu increased in total phospholipid fatty acids(Total PLFAs),and the Total PLFAs from T1,T2,T3,and T4 were,respectively,10.5,2.6,2.6,and 6.5 times that of CK. This study provides important information to significantly guide soil improvement and vegetation restoration in dry-hot valley gully ecosystems.