Characteristics of surface soil macro aggregates under different land use patterns

The content of soil aggregates can be used to characterize the stability of soil structure and reflect the change trend of soil quality. In this study, the effects of 4 kinds of land use, namely, wetland, woodland, farmland, and grassland, on soil aggregate content and stability were analysed in the 0-20 cm soil layer, and the spatial heterogeneity of large particle size aggregates was analysed to simulate the distribution by spatial interpolation. The results showed that the destruction rate of farmland soil aggregates was the maximum at 46.98%, but that of woodland was the minimum at 26.36%. On the basis of the content of soil water stable aggregate, and mean weight diameter and geometric mean diameter of aggregate particles, the strength of soil structure stability was found to be wetland > woodland > farmland > grassland; all 4 kinds of land use resulted in significant differences in soil aggregate stability (P<0.05), and the difference between the wetland and grassland was the most significant. Wetland soil structure was the best, followed by woodland and farmland; grassland showed the least stable soil structure. The results of this study can provide a reference basis for the evaluation of desertification degree and zoning management in the Liaohe River basin.