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Soil quality assessment in low human activity disturbance zones: a study on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

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Abstract

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, located at the Third Pole and known as the “Asian water tower,” serves as a crucial ecological barrier for China. Grasping the soil quality on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau holds paramount importance for the rational and scientific exploitation of soil resources within the region and is essential for vegetation restoration and ecological reconstruction. This study, conducted in Maqin County, Qinghai Province, collected 1647 soil samples (0–20 cm) within a study area of 6300 km2. Sixteen soil indicators were selected that were split into beneficial (N, P, S, and B), harmful (Cr, Hg, As, Pb, Ni, and Cd), and essential (Cu, Zn, Se, Ga, K, and Ca) elements. The Soil Quality Index (SQI) was computed to assess soil quality across diverse geological contexts, land cover classifications, and soil profiles. The results indicate that the overall SQI in the study area was comparatively high, with most regions having an SQI between 0.4 and 0.6, categorized as moderately to highly satisfactory. Among the different geological backgrounds, the highest SQI was found in the Quaternary alluvium (0.555) and the lowest in the Precambrian Jinshuikou Formation (0.481). Regarding different land-use types, the highest SQI was observed in glacier- and snow-covered areas (0.582) and the lowest in other types of grassland (0.461). The highest SQI was recorded in typical alpine meadow soil (0.521) and the lowest in leached brown soil (0.460). The evaluation results have significant reference value for the sustainable utilization and management of soil in Maqin County, Qinghai Province, China.

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Availability of data and materials

The datasets used or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.

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Funding

This study received support from the Special Funds Project for Provincial Geological Exploration in Qinghai Province (NO. 2022012018jc012).

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Author notes

  1. Heran Jia and Siyao Feng have contributed equally to this work and should be acknowledged as co-corresponding authors.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fifth Institute of Geological and Exploration of Qinghai Province, Xining, 810000, China

    Hao Zhang, Yao Niu, Haixu Zhang & Qiang Huang

  2. College of Resources and Environment, Yangtze University, Wuhan, China

    Jie Luo, Siyao Feng & Heran Jia

Authors
  1. Hao Zhang
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  2. Yao Niu
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  3. Haixu Zhang
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  4. Qiang Huang
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  7. Heran Jia
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Contributions

Hao Zhang: Formal analysis, Writing – original draft; Yao Niu: Investigation Formal analysis, Supervision; Haixu Zhang: Funding acquisition, Formal analysis; Qiang Huang: Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology; Jie Luo: Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology; Siyao Feng: Conceptualization, Writing and Editing; Heran Jia: Methodology, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft; All authors have read, understood, and have complied as applicable with the statement on “Ethical responsibilities of Authors”.

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Correspondence to Siyao Feng or Heran Jia.

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Not applicable. This work did not describe experiments with animals, human subjects, or human tissue samples.

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Zhang, H., Niu, Y., Zhang, H. et al. Soil quality assessment in low human activity disturbance zones: a study on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Environ Geochem Health 46, 147 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-024-01924-5

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