To control soil erosion and restore ecosystems in the karst regions of southwest China, the "Grain for Green" program was implemented. It is essential to assess the soil function and quality scientifically during this process.

However, few studies have been conducted to comprehensively evaluate the effect of vegetation restoration on soil quality in this severely eroded karst area.

Researchers from the Institute of Subtropical Agriculture (ISA) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences investigated the influence of different types of vegetation restoration on soil quality by using an integrated soil quality index (SQI) and a generalized linear model (GLM).

In their study, significant differences were not only found in soil properties but also in SQI values among different vegetation types, which indicated that vegetation type played an important role in soil properties and soil quality.

By contrasting the soil properties and soil quality under different vegetation types, the study demonstrated that vegetation restoration could improve soil quality and artificial woodland had better capacity to recover soil quality than natural regeneration in karst regions.

Besides, the GLM model explained 73.20% of the total variation in SQI and vegetation types accounted for the largest proportion of the variation (46.39%), which suggested that selection of the suitable vegetation types for restoration was vitally important for improvement in soil quality.

Their study proved that the SQI method based on minimum data set (MDS) is a useful and practical tool to evaluate and to monitor soil quality. Moreover, it is also beneficial for implementing ecological restoration practices and management in degraded karst areas.

The study, published in Science of the Total Environment, was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Youth Innovation Team Project of ISA, CAS, and CAS Interdisciplinary Innovation Team.