In the spring, the Al saturations tended to increase with the deepening layers. The Al saturations at 0–5 cm and 5–10 cm depths increased obviously in the summer and autumn. The highest Al saturation of all the beds at all three depths was found in the transplanted

2-yr-old ginseng beds. To better understand the potential soil damage caused by the artificial plastic canopy during ginseng cultivation, an annual cycle investigation was conducted to inspect the seasonal dynamics of soil acidity and related parameters in the albic ginseng bed soils. The results showed that ginseng planting resulted in soil acidification (Fig. 3A–E), decreased concentrations of Ex-Ca2+ (Fig. 1K–O), NH4+ (Fig. 2A–E), TOC (Fig. 3K–O), and Alp (Fig. 3P–T), and increased bulk density (Fig. 2P–T) of soils originating AT13387 research buy from albic luvisols. There were also marked seasonal changes in the Ex-Al3+ and NO3− concentrations and spatial variation of water content (Fig. 2 and Fig. 3F–J). The soil conditions were analyzed further as described in the following text. Generally,

soil acidification results from proton sources such as nitrification, acidic deposition, dissociation of organic anions and carbonic acid, and excessive uptake of cations over anions by vegetation [19]. In this study, the plastic canopy minimized the influence of rainfall, and thus acid deposition can be ignored. The form of nitrogen ( NH4+ or NO3−) has a prominent influence on the cation–anion balance in plants and the net production or consumption of H+ in roots, which accounts for a corresponding decrease or increase click here in the substrate pH [20]. The remarkable decrease in NH4+ concentrations and the surface increase in NO3− concentrations in the summer and autumn might mean that NH4+ is the major nitrogen source for ginseng uptake. It is difficult for ginseng to uptake the surface accumulation of NO3− due to spatial limitations. The for remarkable decrease in NH4+ concentrations within a 1-yr investigation cycle (Fig. 2A–E) might be

the result of two factors: (1) NH4+ uptake by plants; and (2) the nitrification transformation of NH4+ to NO3−. Either uptake by ginseng or transformation to NO3− will release protons and result in soil acidification. This is consistent with the finding that pH is positively correlated with NH4+ concentration (r = 0.463, p < 0.01, n = 60; Fig. 3A–E). The active nitrification process in ginseng garden soils might result in significant NO3− accumulation, especially in the summer and autumn (Fig. 2F–J). The clear seasonality of NO3− distribution in ginseng garden soils might also be driven by water movement (Fig. 2K–O), which was demonstrated in the variation in soil moisture in ginseng beds under plastic shades (Fig. 2K–O). In the summer and autumn, the potential difference in the amount of water between the layers might have resulted in upward water capillary action (Fig. 2K–O). The following spring, the snow melted and leaching occurred again (Fig. 2K–O).