ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Functional Plant Ecology
This article is part of the Research TopicUncovering plant adaptation mechanisms for effective ecological restorationView all articles
Herb-Soil Coupling in Post-Fire Karst Forests: A Grey Relational Analysis in Yunnan, Southwest China
Provisionally accepted
Longhai Zhang1,2
Zhiyong Zhang1,2
Zihao Li1,2
Xinjun Chen3Shirui Pu1,2Qian Chen1Min Gong1
Muhammad Anas Khan1,2
Jinxing Zhou1,2*- 1Jianshui Research Station, Beijing Forestry University School of Soil and Water Conservation, Beijing, China
- 2State Key Laboratory of Efficient Production of Forestry Resources.Engineering Research Center of Forestry Ecological Engineering, Ministry of Education, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China
- 3State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding,Institute of Ecological Protection and Restoration, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, China
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Karst ecosystems, recognized as ecologically fragile systems, are characterized by vegetation-soil interaction mechanisms particularly vulnerable to wildfire disturbances. This study investigates post-fire areas across five disturbance intensities (unburned, light, moderate, severe, extreme) in Jianshui County, Yunnan Province, China, through systematic analysis of soil physicochemical properties and herb diversity, combined with grey relational modeling to quantify vegetation-soil coupling dynamics. Key results reveal: (1) 21 herbaceous species were documented, with Asteraceae, Poaceae, and Fabaceae collectively constituting 76.2% of the flora. (2) Across the fire severity gradient, herbaceous diversity demonstrated an initial increase followed by a subsequent decline. (3) Grey correlation analysis identified soil pH, total potassium, and phosphatase activity as primary drivers of herb community variation. (4) Vegetation-soil coupling coordination followed a U-shaped trajectory, achieving optimal synergy (0.84, Higher coordination) under extreme-severity burns and minimal coordination (0.71, Medium coordination) in severe burns. These findings underscore that moderate fire regimes play a positive role in enhancing the coupling effect between vegetation and soil, while strategic regulation of soil pH and potassium availability during restoration may enhance ecosystem resilience.
Keywords: Karst ecosystems, Post-fire disturbances, Grey relational analysis, Vegetationrestoration, Soil drivers, Coupling coordination, Environmental stress
Received: 20 Sep 2025; Accepted: 10 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhang, Zhang, Li, Chen, Pu, Chen, Gong, Khan and Zhou. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jinxing Zhou, bjfuzjx@126.com
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