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The causes of soil alkalinization in the Songnen Plain of Northeast China

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Abstract

The causes of soil alkalinization in the Songnen Plain of Northeast China were mainly analyzed from two aspects, natural and anthropogenic. Natural factors of alkalinization are parent materials, topographic positions, freeze-thaw action, wind conveyance, water properties and semi-arid/sub-humid climate. Some of them were always being neglected, such as freeze-thaw action and wind conveyance. Anthropogenic causes are mainly population pressure, overgrazing and improper agricultural and economic policies. In recent decades, overgrazing played a main role in secondary soil alkalinization, which led to the decline of Leymus chinensis grasslands. Now, the alkalinization is very severe, and more than 3.2 × 106 ha area has been affected by salt, which becomes one of the three largest sodic–saline areas in the world.

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Acknowledgments

Appreciation is extended to China Scholarship Council, Japan International Science & Technology Exchange Center, Heiwa Nakajima Foundation for funding this study, and to Mr. Chen Shengyong (from Institute of Soil and Water Conservation in Heilongjiang Province, China) for helping construct the map of the Songnen Plain and Mr. Hu Liangjun (from Northeast Normal University, China) for providing some valuable data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming in the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest A&F University, 712100, Yangling, Shaanxi Province, People’s Republic of China

    Li Wang

  2. Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Tokyo, Yayoi 1-1-1, Bunko-ku, Tokyo, 113-8657, Japan

    Li Wang, Katsutoshi Seki, T. Miyazaki & Y. Ishihama

  3. Faculty of Business Administration, Toyo University, 5-28-20, Hakusan, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 112-8606, Japan

    Katsutoshi Seki

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  1. Li Wang
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  2. Katsutoshi Seki
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  4. Y. Ishihama
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Correspondence to Katsutoshi Seki.

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Wang, L., Seki, K., Miyazaki, T. et al. The causes of soil alkalinization in the Songnen Plain of Northeast China. Paddy Water Environ 7, 259–270 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10333-009-0166-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10333-009-0166-x

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