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Article

Mapping Key Soil Properties of Cropland in a Mountainous Region of Southwestern China

1
College of Plant Science and Technology, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing 102206, China
2
Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
3
Beijing Key Laboratory for Agricultural Application and New Technique, Beijing 102206, China
4
Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Agronomy 2024, 14(7), 1417; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14071417 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 7 May 2024 / Revised: 9 June 2024 / Accepted: 27 June 2024 / Published: 29 June 2024

Abstract

Soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), and total potassium (TK) are important indicators for evaluating soil fertility. Exploring the content and spatial distribution of these indicators is of great significance for optimizing cropland management measures and developing sustainable agriculture. Yunnan Province is one of the most important agricultural regions in southwestern China, characterized by large variations in the topography and an uneven distribution of soil fertility. In this study, the data of 8571 topsoil (0–20 cm) samples selected from Yunnan Province and a portion of related spatial data were used to carry out electronic mapping of the spatial distribution of soil sand content, clay content, silt content, SOC, TN, TP, TK content, and C:N ratio at 1 km resolution using the Random Forest (RF) model. The results indicated that the average measured contents of SOC, TN, TP, TK, and C:N ratio in the topsoil of Yunnan Province were 18.78 ± 0.09 g/kg, 1.78 ± 0.01 g/kg, 0.98 ± 0.01 g/kg, 13.89 ± 0.08 g/kg, and 10.56 ± 0.02, respectively. The spatial analysis showed that higher SOC was mainly distributed in northern and eastern Yunnan, and the spatial distribution pattern of TN and TP was similar to that of SOC. While higher TK was mainly distributed in southwestern Yunnan Province. There was a significant positive correlation between SOC and TN and TP contents with correlation coefficients of 0.889 and 0.463, however, there was a significant negative correlation between SOC and TK content with correlation coefficients of −0.060. It was also indicated that elevation, temperature, precipitation, clay content, sand content, and silt content were the most important factors affecting SOC, TN, TP, and TK content. The present study provided an understanding of soil nutrients characteristics and their affecting factors, which is helpful to optimize agricultural management practices and develop sustainable agriculture according to soil fertility.
Keywords: spatial pattern; soil nutrient content; random forest model; surface soil; cropland; mountainous area spatial pattern; soil nutrient content; random forest model; surface soil; cropland; mountainous area

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Su, B.; Liu, R.; Lu, Z.; Hong, Y.; Chang, N.; Wang, Y.; Song, Z.; Li, R. Mapping Key Soil Properties of Cropland in a Mountainous Region of Southwestern China. Agronomy 2024, 14, 1417. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14071417

AMA Style

Su B, Liu R, Lu Z, Hong Y, Chang N, Wang Y, Song Z, Li R. Mapping Key Soil Properties of Cropland in a Mountainous Region of Southwestern China. Agronomy. 2024; 14(7):1417. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14071417

Chicago/Turabian Style

Su, Baocai, Rui Liu, Zhenzong Lu, Yue Hong, Naijie Chang, Ye Wang, Zhenwei Song, and Runzhi Li. 2024. "Mapping Key Soil Properties of Cropland in a Mountainous Region of Southwestern China" Agronomy 14, no. 7: 1417. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14071417

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