Rice planting acceleration of the activation and loss of soil iron in the red soil region of southern China

Highlights

● Rice planting decreased total iron but increased active iron.

● Iron activation varied greatly among different paddy soils but not in woodland soils.

● Paddy soil iron was mainly affected by pH, SOC and particle composition.

● The decrease of soil Fe was mainly in the form of Fe_c and was closely related to SOC.

Abstract

Human activities have intensified the activity and morphological transformation of iron in soils, but there is a lack of quantitative assessment of the loss or of the transformation pattern. By studying Fe-rich rice soils in southern China and comparing them with corresponding woodland soils, it was found that rice planting reduced the total iron (Fe_t) content, mainly of crystalline iron (Fe_c), along soil profiles (0−100 cm) while increasing the content of active iron (Fe_o). The activation degree of Fe_o (Fe_o%) varied significantly among different parent materials in paddy soils but showed less variation in woodland soils. Regression analysis revealed significant correlations between both the content of Fe_c and the content of Fe_o in paddy soils with soil organic carbon (SOC) and particle composition (p < 0.05). The Fe_o% was primarily influenced by pH, SOC, and particle composition. The iron loss in paddy soil was mainly Fe_c and was closely related to SOC, whereas the transformation of active iron (Fe_o) was influenced by a combination of soil factors and environmental conditions. The results demonstrate that human activities accelerate the loss and activation of active iron in the soil, thereby altering the iron cycling process in rice paddy ecosystems.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

paddy soil / iron forms / parent material / rice planting / Fe activation

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Acknowledgments

This study was financially supported by Scientific Research Fund of Hunan Provincial Education Department (Grant No. 20A234). San’an Nie thanks the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 42177288) as well as the National Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province, China (Grant No. 2023JJ30307).

Declaration of interests

No conflict of interest.

Electronic supplementary material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s42832-023-0198-y and is accessible for authorized users.

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