This study demonstrated that biuret at higher concentration could be used as a slow-release N source in forest soils. The slower mineralisation, nitrification and greater immobilisation of biuret-N indicate that this N source could increase the availability of ammonium N in acid forest soils by retarding nitrification and hence reduce the risk of nitrate N leaching. This research work could have important implications for future biuret fertilizer development for plantation forests.

This study investigates the possible danger that applying the common herbicide glyphosate might affect the release of toxic metals from the soil into the ecosystem. Tested effects of glyphosate on copper mobility at a molecular scale showed that glyphosate application caused rapid release of soil-bound copper within the top 2-cm soil layer as CuSO₄ and Cu₃(PO₄)₂ for 14 days. These are significant, because released copper is then free to enter ground water and food webs of connected ecosystems.

This work dives into the advantages of using digital techniques in spite of traditional to produce a soil mapping units map. We evaluated the detail enhancement when satellite data and environmental information were coupled with traditional strategies of soil survey. The modern tools produced more landscape units, while the traditional strategies were more precise to determine transitions. Combining expert knowledge with automated tools proved to be the ideal strategy to study a landscape.

We tested the effect of green algae (Klebsormidium flaccidum) and a field algal community on soil degradation on two soil substrates: (1) Ordos Desert sand; and (2) artificial desert sand (washed sand), and four soil amendments (biochar, clay, organic matter, geohumus). We developed a rapid fluorescence microscopy-Image J method to estimate algal abundance, which can be used to give recommendations on the use of soil amendments to manage soil degradation in desert soils in vivo.

Conventional tillage systems associated with vegetable- and rice-based cropping systems cause soil degradation in terms of aggregates and organic carbon in the topsoil, but the impact on deeper layers requires study. We found that soils under rice-based tillage operations had poor soil aggregate stability and less organic carbon compared to soils under conventional vegetable-based tillage. Future researchers should extend this work on the dynamics and soil aggregate turnover under conventional rice-based tillage systems.

The ‘Grain for Green’ projects have increased the vegetation cover of the Loess Plateau, but the response mechanism of ecological sustainability to vegetation restoration is unclear. Studies in this area found that the conversion of agricultural land to planted shrubland significantly increased the infiltration rate of precipitation into the soil, enhancing the erosion resistance and ecological services function. These results provide a reference for the high-quality development of ecological environment construction in the region.