Coarse soil has a poor structure and is susceptible to wind and water erosion, thereby making it difficult to maintain the soil organic carbon (SOC) content. Woody peat (WP) is an organic material that can increase the SOC content of the soil, while clay materials can rapidly enhance the capacity for soil aggregate formation. In order to explore the synergistic effects of WP and clay materials (bentonite and red clay) on the aggregate structure and hydro‐physical properties of coarse soil, as well as the mechanism associated with SOC mineralization (ΔSOC), we conducted an incubation study using lou soil (L0) and loessial soil (H0) with three treatments: addition of WP alone (LW, HW), mixture of WP and bentonite (LWB, HWB), and mixture of WP and red clay (LWR, HWR). The three treatments enhanced the proportion of macroaggregate (> 2 mm) and aggregate stability of the two soils, and optimized the water retention and ventilation performance. The highest aggregate stability of LWB and HWB can be attributed to the positive synergistic effect of WP and bentonite, and bentonite was more effective than red clay due to its crystal structure. The results also showed that the ΔSOC values were significantly lower under LWB and HWB than those under WP addition alone and adding the mixture of WP and red clay (p < 0.05). Moreover, partial least squares path modeling analysis showed that the hydro‐physical properties of the two improved soils inhibited SOC mineralization (p > 0.05), whereas particulate organic carbon (POC) content significantly accelerated SOC mineralization (p < 0.01). The synergistic effect of clay materials increased mineral‐associated organic carbon (MAOC), which was beneficial to maintain the long‐term effectiveness of WP. Overall, our results demonstrated that the synergistic use of WP and bentonite enhanced the aggregate stability and hydro‐physical properties of coarse soil and improved SOC storage capacity. These results provide scientific and theoretical guidance to facilitate the rapid improvement of coarse soil through engineering measures in arid and semi‐arid areas with water and fertilizer limitations.

中文翻译：

---

木本泥炭和膨润土之间的协同作用通过增强土壤聚集能力和水体物理特性来改变粗壤中土壤有机碳的稳定性


粗土结构不良，易受风和水侵蚀，因此难以维持土壤有机碳 （SOC） 含量。木质泥炭 （WP） 是一种有机材料，可以提高土壤的 SOC 含量，而粘土材料可以迅速增强土壤团聚体形成的能力。为了探究 WP 和粘土材料（膨润土和红粘土）对粗土团聚体结构和水体物理性质的协同效应，以及与 SOC 矿化 （ΔSOC） 相关的机制，我们使用 lou 土 （L0） 和黄土 （H0） 进行了三种处理的孵化研究：单独添加 WP （LW， HW）、WP 和膨润土的混合物 （LWB， HWB） 以及 WP 和红粘土的混合物 （LWR， HWR）。3种处理提高了2种土壤的大团聚体比例（> 2 mm）和团聚体稳定性，优化了土壤的保水性和通风性能。LWB 和 HWB 的最高聚集体稳定性可归因于 WP 和膨润土的积极协同效应，并且由于其晶体结构，膨润土比红粘土更有效。结果还表明，LWB 和 HWB 下的 ΔSOC 值显著低于单独添加 WP 和添加 WP 和红粘土混合物下的 ΔSOC 值 （p < 0.05）。此外，偏最小二乘路径模型分析表明，两种改良土壤的水体物理性质抑制了 SOC 矿化 （p > 0.05），而颗粒有机碳 （POC） 含量显着加速了 SOC 矿化 （p < 0.01）。粘土材料的协同效应增加了矿物相关有机碳 （MAOC），这有利于维持 WP 的长期有效性。 总体而言，我们的结果表明，WP 和膨润土的协同使用增强了粗土的骨料稳定性和水物理特性，并提高了 SOC 存储能力。这些结果为在缺水和肥缺水的干旱和半干旱地区通过工程措施快速改良粗壤提供了科学和理论指导。