STUDIES ON THE CHARACTERISTICS OF SOIL CHANGE FOR DIFFERENT LAND-USE PATTERNS IN RED EARTH HILLY AREA OF CHINA

In this paper, changes in soil properties and soil quality were quantitatively studied after the natural sparse shrubby-grass land and poor cultivated land had been converted into more than ten land use patterns in Qianyanzhou Experiment Station (QYZES), a typical area in red earth hills of South China. A small watershed soil information system (QYZES) and soil change data bases were developed for evaluating, monitoring, and mapping the soil changes under various soil types and land–use patterns. Process of change in soil C and N was simulated and predicted by modeling. Some liner equations were developed to forecast the element migration in ecosystems by rainfall, runoff, and soil leachate. Relative soil quality index (RSQI) was defined and proposed to evaluate soil quality and its changes.