Soil water and temperature regimes in urban environments are greatly affected by different surface treatments, and these may lead even to changes in soil properties. The goal of this study was to find out how soil properties had changed after 8 years of soil surface modification. Five surface treatment scenarios were considered: bare soil (BS), bark chips (BC), concrete paving (CP), mown grass (MG), and unmown grass (UG). X-ray computed tomography and micromorphological analyses showed that character of pores in soils with grass (MG, UG), which were mainly influenced by organisms living in soils and roots, differed from pore character in soil covers BC or CP, which mostly were impacted by organisms living in soils. Both groups differed from BS, which was predominantly affected by the regular treatment consisting in weed removal and soil loosening. Soil under BC was more compact than for other treatments due to decomposition of the bark chips mulch and migration of mulch components. Organic matter content was greatest but its quality lowest in the BC soil, followed by UG, MG, CP, and BS. The highest aggregate stability assessed using the water-stable aggregates (WSA) index was found for UG, followed by MG, BC, CP, and BS. The greatest water retention ability was observed for BC followed by UG, MG, CP, and BS. The unsaturated hydraulic conductivities for pressure head of –2 cm measured for UG, MG, and BS were much higher than were those for CP and BC. Finally, the greatest net CO2 efflux was measured for BC and MG, followed by UG, CP, and BS. CO2 emission correlated negatively with soil physical quality expressed as slope of the soil water retention curve at its inflection point. In general, the best soil conditions were observed for UG. No treatment considerably aggravated soil condition.

中文翻译：

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城市地区不同的土壤表面处理如何影响土壤孔隙结构以及相关的土壤特性和过程


城市环境中的土壤水分和温度状况受不同表面处理的极大影响，这些甚至可能导致土壤特性的变化。本研究的目的是找出土壤表面改性 8 年后土壤特性的变化。考虑了五种表面处理方案：裸土 （BS）、树皮碎片 （BC）、混凝土铺路 （CP）、割草 （MG） 和未割草 （UG）。X 射线计算机断层扫描和微形态学分析表明，主要受生活在土壤和根系中的生物体影响的有草土壤 （MG， UG） 的孔隙特征与土壤覆盖 BC 或 CP 的孔隙特征不同，后者主要受生活在土壤中的生物体的影响。两组都与 BS 不同，BS 主要受到包括除草和松土在内的常规处理的影响。由于树皮碎片、覆盖物的分解和覆盖成分的迁移，BC 下的土壤比其他处理更紧凑。BC 土壤有机质含量最高，但质量最低，其次是 UG、MG、CP 和 BS。使用 Water-stable 骨料 （WSA） 指数评估的骨料稳定性最高的是 UG，其次是 MG、BC、CP 和 BS。观察到 BC 的保水能力最大，其次是 UG、MG、CP 和 BS。UG、MG 和 BS 测得的 -2 cm 压力水头的非饱和水力学导率远高于 CP 和 BC。最后，测量了 BC 和 MG 的最大净 CO2 外排量，其次是 UG、CP 和 BS。CO2 排放与土壤物理质量呈负相关，表示为土壤保水曲线在其拐点的斜率。一般来说，观察到 UG 的最佳土壤条件。 没有处理大大恶化了土壤状况。