Effects of “Grain for Green” program on soil hydraulic properties: A meta-analysis

Soil hydrologic functions are important for landscapes where soil water loss is significant. The largest ecological restoration engineering project, namely the “Grain for Green” program (GGP), has being implemented since 1999 in China. However, the general patterns of the effects of GGP on soil hydr...

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Main Authors: Jiao Yang, Huan Ma, Rongfei Zhang, Wei Ji
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-01-01
Series:Geoderma
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016706124003598
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author Jiao Yang
Huan Ma
Rongfei Zhang
Wei Ji
author_facet Jiao Yang
Huan Ma
Rongfei Zhang
Wei Ji
author_sort Jiao Yang
collection DOAJ
description Soil hydrologic functions are important for landscapes where soil water loss is significant. The largest ecological restoration engineering project, namely the “Grain for Green” program (GGP), has being implemented since 1999 in China. However, the general patterns of the effects of GGP on soil hydraulic properties under different conditions remain unclear. Aiming to understand the influence of soil hydrologic functions by GGP, a literature review and subsequent meta-analysis were conducted based on the evaluated literature data. The results revealed that GGP significantly increased soil saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) by 33.51 %, 23.53 %, and 22.58 % in the surface (0–20 cm), subsurface (20–40 cm) and deep soil layer (>40 cm), respectively. The soil Ks increased over time since GGP implementation. The response changes of Ks showed significant difference among different plantation types, the conversion of cropland to orchards may lead to soil Ks decrease. And the natural restoration approach of grass may lead to greater increase in Ks than artificial restoration approach. In addition, the GLM (General Linear Model) model explained about 97.22 % of the total variables. Among the input variables, soil organic matter content (SOM) explained the largest proportion (39.55 %), followed by plantation type (36.97 %), bulk density (BD) (17.77 %), sand content (2.19 %) and it can be implied that the GGP plays an important positive role in soil hydraulic properties probably because soil organic matter content increased in GGP. This study suggests the GGP implementation caused soil hydrologic functions improving, and provide useful knowledge for ecological restoration practices and management.
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spelling doaj-art-f38e9a6112d14e64ad9b58f9582205fe2025-01-10T04:36:41ZengElsevierGeoderma1872-62592025-01-01453117130Effects of “Grain for Green” program on soil hydraulic properties: A meta-analysisJiao Yang0Huan Ma1Rongfei Zhang2Wei Ji3Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Science, Beijing 100012, ChinaChinese Research Academy of Environmental Science, Beijing 100012, ChinaCollege of Environment and Ecology, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China; Corresponding author.Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Science, Beijing 100012, ChinaSoil hydrologic functions are important for landscapes where soil water loss is significant. The largest ecological restoration engineering project, namely the “Grain for Green” program (GGP), has being implemented since 1999 in China. However, the general patterns of the effects of GGP on soil hydraulic properties under different conditions remain unclear. Aiming to understand the influence of soil hydrologic functions by GGP, a literature review and subsequent meta-analysis were conducted based on the evaluated literature data. The results revealed that GGP significantly increased soil saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) by 33.51 %, 23.53 %, and 22.58 % in the surface (0–20 cm), subsurface (20–40 cm) and deep soil layer (>40 cm), respectively. The soil Ks increased over time since GGP implementation. The response changes of Ks showed significant difference among different plantation types, the conversion of cropland to orchards may lead to soil Ks decrease. And the natural restoration approach of grass may lead to greater increase in Ks than artificial restoration approach. In addition, the GLM (General Linear Model) model explained about 97.22 % of the total variables. Among the input variables, soil organic matter content (SOM) explained the largest proportion (39.55 %), followed by plantation type (36.97 %), bulk density (BD) (17.77 %), sand content (2.19 %) and it can be implied that the GGP plays an important positive role in soil hydraulic properties probably because soil organic matter content increased in GGP. This study suggests the GGP implementation caused soil hydrologic functions improving, and provide useful knowledge for ecological restoration practices and management.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016706124003598Soil hydraulic propertiesSoil saturated hydraulic conductivityPlantation typeGrain for GreenMeta-analysis
spellingShingle Jiao Yang
Huan Ma
Rongfei Zhang
Wei Ji
Effects of “Grain for Green” program on soil hydraulic properties: A meta-analysis
Geoderma
Soil hydraulic properties
Soil saturated hydraulic conductivity
Plantation type
Grain for Green
Meta-analysis
title Effects of “Grain for Green” program on soil hydraulic properties: A meta-analysis
title_full Effects of “Grain for Green” program on soil hydraulic properties: A meta-analysis
title_fullStr Effects of “Grain for Green” program on soil hydraulic properties: A meta-analysis
title_full_unstemmed Effects of “Grain for Green” program on soil hydraulic properties: A meta-analysis
title_short Effects of “Grain for Green” program on soil hydraulic properties: A meta-analysis
title_sort effects of grain for green program on soil hydraulic properties a meta analysis
topic Soil hydraulic properties
Soil saturated hydraulic conductivity
Plantation type
Grain for Green
Meta-analysis
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016706124003598
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AT rongfeizhang effectsofgrainforgreenprogramonsoilhydraulicpropertiesametaanalysis
AT weiji effectsofgrainforgreenprogramonsoilhydraulicpropertiesametaanalysis