Restoration of surface soil fertility of an eroded red soil in southern China

To ameliorate degraded red soils and restore their productivity, it is necessary to quantitatively assess the effects of different land uses on soil fertility. In this study, surface soil samples (0–20 cm) under different land uses were collected from an 18-year ameliorative experiment site of a eroded red soil in Lanxi county, Zhejiang province of southern China. The status of surface soil fertility was quantified with a ryegrass growth test in the greenhouse and by numerical analysis of twelve important fertility indexes. The soil fertility indexes were grouped into three major factors using a factor analysis, i.e., organic matter-nitrogen-structure, acidity and phosphate. By means of principal component analysis and cluster analysis of these fertility factors, the fertility of the eroded red soil as a function of land use patterns had the following decreased order: vegetable land>paddy field, cropping arable land and ryegrass land>tea garden>citrus garden>forestland>wasteland. The result suggested that organic matter, total N, available N, and water-stable aggregates were the main characteristics for fertility restoration of the eroded red soil. Soil fertility was most rapidly restored where the soil had been used as vegetable land, and least restored when left as wasteland. The results indicated that land use strongly affected the fertility restoration of eroded red soils because of its effect on the input of nutrients and energy, thus determining the speed and direction of soil fertility evolution.