Some Biogeochemical Characteristics of Tea Soils

Characteristics of the element abundance, material cycling, element budget in tea soils were discussed based on investigations of six tea plantations and the adjacent waste lands in the Three Gorges region.The plantations have different soil-forming parent materials, but similar landforms, and the same tea variety and close ages. The results showed that tea growing could increased the contents of organic matter,total and available N, P, Al and Mn; the elements enriched by tea trees were in the following descending Sequence: P > Ca> K > Mn > Mg > Zn > Al > Fe; elements returned through litter of tea were in the sequence of Ca> Mn > P > Zn > Mg > K > Al > Fe; in the nutrient budget of the soil-tea system, P and K were in deficit,whereas Al, Ca, Fe and Mn in surplus.