Abstract: A total of 60 samples of surface soils (0-20 cm) were collected from main tea producing areas of Fujian province to assess the total and available soil selenium. Their relations with soil physical and chemical properties were also discussed. The results show that content of total selenium in the surface soils ranged from 0.22 mg·kg^-1 to 2.20 mg·kg^-1 with an average of 0.73 mg·kg^-1, and 86.67% of the soils belonged to Se-rich soils. The ranges of available selenium in soil were from 5.21 to 448.86 μg·kg^-1, with a mean of 62.98 μg·kg^-1. The available rate of selenium ranged from 1.10% to 31.64%, with a mean of 8.76%. The total and available selenium contents in soils from glutenite and tuff were higher, and those in soils from purple sandstone and river alluvium were lower. For different soil types, alpine meadow soil showed the highest total and available selenium content, while moisture sand yand paddy soils were relatively lower. The total and available selenium contents in mature and old tea gardens were the highest, and the young tea garden was the lowest. The total and available selenium contents in the middle-high elevation tea garden were the highest, and the low elevation tea garden was the lowest. Selenium content in tea garden soil was significantly positively correlated with soil organic matter and total nitrogen contents. Whereas the soil pH also significantly affect the selenium content in red soil and young tea garden. And, the soil available phosphate was also a significant effect on selenium content in mature and middle-high elevation tea garden. In general, the Se-enriched soils in the tea gardens provided a source guarantee for the development of Se-enriched tea. However, the effectiveness of soil selenium was not high and should be adjusted in tea garden via different cultivation measures (additional application of organic fertilizers, ameliorant and calcium magnesium phosphate fertilizers) to increase availability selenium content.

Key words: tea garden, soils, selenium, soil types, tea plantation age, elevation, influential factors