XIONGJiayi, ZHOUWeijun, ZHOUYuzhou, XUZhangqian, NINGChi, OUYANGKai, LIUPei
To investigate the distribution characteristics and influencing factors of selenium (Se) in the soil-crop (rice, corn) system, this study collected and analyzed 1 429 paddy field-rice samples and 1 536 dryland-corn samples. Combining methods such as inverse distance weighting interpolation, hot/cold spot analysis, correlation analysis, and random forest models, the distribution and enrichment patterns of selenium in the soil-crop system were investigated. The relationships between parent material, soil physicochemical properties [soil organic matter (SOM), cation exchange capacity (CEC), pH], essential trace elements [copper (Cu), zinc (Zn)], climatic factors [altitude (ASL), slope (SLP), annual precipitation (PRCP), mean temperature (TEMP)] and soil Se, crop Se, and bioaccumulation factors (BCF) were analyzed. The results showed that,(1) The average Se content in paddy soils was 0.66 mg/kg (selenium-rich rate: 80.13%), while that in dryland soils was 0.58 mg/kg (selenium-rich rate: 73.83%). (2) Moran’s I indices for paddy soil Se, dryland soil Se, rice Se, corn Se, rice BCF, and corn BCF were 0.46, 0.31, 0.38, 0.17, 0.13, and 0.07 respectively, indicating moderate spatial autocorrelation influenced by both structural and stochastic factors. (3) Parent material significantly influenced the spatial variation of soil Se, with greater impact on rice Se than corn Se, potentially related to crop species differences. (4) The random forest modeling identified PRCP, ASL, TEMP, and SOM as primary predictors of soil Se; PRCP, TEMP, and ASL for crop Se; SOM and PRCP for rice BCF; SOM, ASL, and TEMP for corn BCF. This study provides references for selenium-rich resource utilization in relevant areas.