Study the relationships between the soil and the original vegetationusing nalkane technique

The nalkane technique was used to study the nalkane concentrations in soil of degraded grassland in Bashang area of Hebei Province. The nalkane concentrations were contrasted with dominant species in undegraded grassland to explore the relationships between the soil and the original vegetation. The result showed that the nalkane concentration in soil of Achnatherum splendens plot, sword iris plot, mouse damaged plot and Stellera chamaejasme plot matched well with the nalkane concentration of Leymus chinensis, it could be presumed that the original vegetation of these degraded grasslands was similar with undegraded grassland. The nalkane concentration in soil in Artemisia frigida plot matched poor with the nalkane concentrations of L. chinensis and matched well with that of A. frigida, and it suggested that the change of nalkane concentration could reflect the vegetation change. The nalkane concentration was stable in soil and it suggested that the processes of soil degradation lagged behind the vegetation degradation.