[Spatial heterogeneity of soil inorganic nitrogen in a broadleaved-Korean pine mixed forest in Changbai Mountains of northeast China].

Abstract

Geostatistic methods were applied to study the spatial heterogeneity of top soil (0 - 10 cm) ammonium N and nitrate N in a broadleaved-Korean pine mixed forest of Changbai Mountains, Northeast China. The semi-variogram of soil ammonium N and nitrate N could be well fitted by spherical or Gaussian model. The spatial distribution of soil ammonium N and nitrate N all exhibited moderate autocorrelation, with the structural ratio being 0.70% - 41.47% and 32.26% - 52.66%, and the autocorrelation degree of soil ammonium N was smaller than that of soil nitrate N, with the variation distance being 8.87 and 9.76 m, respectively. Spatially, soil ammonium N and nitrate N were distributed in patches, and the spatial heterogeneity of soil ammonium N was higher than that of soil nitrate N. There was a significant negative correlation between soil nitrate N and soil moisture content, while soil ammonium N had less correlation with soil moisture.