A threshold‐like effect on the interaction between hydrological connectivity and dominant plant population in tidal marsh wetlands

Bibliographic Data

ID21649900
AuthorsJiakai Liu (0000-0002-3337-1962, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University Beijing PR China), Ying Liu (0000-0001-5584-7805, School of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University Beijing PR China), Lumeng Xie (0000-0001-8709-9960, School of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University Beijing PR China), Shiqiang Zhao (School of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University Beijing PR China), Liyi Dai (0000-0003-1386-4070, School of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University Beijing PR China), Zhenming Zhang (0000-0001-6290-4636, School of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University Beijing PR China, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume32
Issue10
Pages2922-2935
Publication date2021-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLand Degradation and Development (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1085-3278 • E-ISSN: 1099-145X
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/ldr.3913
OpenAlexW3128813609
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited98

Tidal marsh wetlands in the Yellow River Delta provide valuable eco‐services to the local population and global ecology. However, this area is suffering from serious degradation under the stresses of social development and climate change. Hydrological connectivity, a new framework in hydrology and ecology, has been proposed as the main factor affecting the ecological processes in coastal wetlands; however, its role in hydrology–soil–vegetation interactions remains unclear. In this study, we parametrically quantified the hydrological connectivity in the tidal marsh wetlands and analyzed its relationship with Phragmites australis , one of the dominant species in this area. Our results showed threshold‐like effects on the interaction between hydrological connectivity and P . australis on the plot scale. When biomass is lower than 2.2 kg m −2 , the population density and structure size were found to increase with hydrological connectivity. When the biomass is higher than the threshold, the plots disconnected hydrologically because of high water consumption. Compared with soil chemistry, salinity, and water soil content, hydrological connectivity in the surface soil layer is more strongly linked to the plant traits and spatial structure in the tidal marsh wetlands due to the narrow ranges of other variables. Based on the Best on previous study and our analysis, we do not recommend dense plantation of P . australis , especially near the freshwater sources in the tidal marsh, because of its high reproduction ability and competitive nature, which may cut the freshwater connectivity off, lowering the richness of plant species and habitat diversity

Biology · Habitat · Marsh · Phragmites · Population · Salt marsh · Species richness · Wetland · Aeolian processes and effects · Coastal and Marine Dynamics · Coastal wetland ecosystem dynamics · Environmental Science · Ecology · Geology

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