The man-made rubber-tea community has not only brought forth high economic efficacy and social benefits but also improved
the
ecological environment of soil. This paper mainly discusses the function that man-made rubber-tea community performs in the improvement of edaphic ecosystem. The experimental position was located east of the tropical botanic garden at longitude of 101°15'E, latitude of 21°41'N, and an elevation of 580m above sea level. The experimental plots chosen for comparisons were essentially consistent in direction and altitude of the slope, topography, edaphic condition and the level of fertilizer application.
1. The runoff and erosion in case of artificial rubber-tea community were decreased by 29.63 % and 24.37% ,
respectively, in comparison with the case of pure rubber plantation.
2. Actinomycetes 0 ~ 80 cm beneath the ground in artificial rubber-tea community are slightly less than those in pure rubber plantation, whereas bacteria, fungi and azotobacters in artificial rubber-tea community are 3.3, 1.5 and 1.7 times those in pure rubber plantation respectively. The 0 ~ 5 cm soil layer in artificial rubber-tea community contains 3,633,300 microorganisms/g dry soil, which is 2.2 times the number in pure rubber plantation (1,648,400).
3. When artificial rubber-tea community is compared with pure rubber plantation in the foggy, dry and wet season, CO2 released on the artificial rubber-tea community ground surface (under the rubber trees) was increased by 58.3% , 66.7% and 51.0% respectively, and when artificial rubber-tea community (under the tea bushes) is compared with pure tea plantation (under the tea bushes), with even greater differences, the amount of CO2 of the former are respectively (referring to the different seasons) 7.3, 2.5 and 2.2 times those of the latter.
4. The 0~20 cm soil layer under rubber trees in artificial rubber-tea community contains 62.05% of water-stable granules, and pure rubber plantation 57.49% , with an increase of 4.56% . The increase was also found under tea trees in artificial rubber-tea community as compared with pure tea plantation.
5. The 0~60 cm soil layer in artificial rubber-tea community contains 18.2g/kg organic matter and 0.93g/ kg total nitrogen; increasing by 18.95% and 4.49% respectively in comparison with soil in pure rubber plantation; increasing by 26.39% and 16.25% respectively, in comparison with soil in pure tea plantation.
6. Both mean yield of dry rubber and total value of output per hactare are higher in artificial rubber-tea community than in pure rubber plantation , with dry rubber yield increasing by 10.42 % , and total output value increasing by 72.20 % .