The impact of plant restoration on soil aggregates in karst mountainous areas of southwestern China

Soil aggregates are the basic structure of soil. In order to reveal the distribution characteristics of soil aggregates and the response of their stability to long-term vegetation restoration in southwest Karst, the karst region and its succession transversal after ecological restoration in Caohai Nature Reserve, Weining, Guizhou, were taken as the research object and combined with the homogenous garden experiment. GLMM(Generalized linear mixture model) and structural equation model were used to analyze the mechanism of vegetation restoration on the stability of soil aggregates. The results show that vegetation type is the key factor affecting the formation and stability of soil aggregates, while terrain features have no obvious effect on soil aggregates in the process of vegetation restoration. This discovery provides important theoretical basis and practical guidance for vegetation restoration projects in karst areas. This study not only revealed the potential mechanism of vegetation restoration to improve soil aggregate structure, but also provided scientific basis and strategic reference for ecological environment restoration and reconstruction in karst areas in the future.