Chronosequence Changes of Soil Organic Carbon in Salt Marshes under Artificial Intervention: A Case Study of Hengsha Island in the Yangtze Estuary

Jing Zhang, Chenyan Sha, Songshuo Li, Min Wang, Qiang Wang, Qing Wang, Jinghua Su, Cheng Shen and Shenfa Huang ()
Additional contact information
Jing Zhang: School of Environmental and Geographical Sciences, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China
Chenyan Sha: Shanghai Academy of Environmental Sciences, Shanghai 200233, China
Songshuo Li: Shanghai Academy of Environmental Sciences, Shanghai 200233, China
Min Wang: Shanghai Academy of Environmental Sciences, Shanghai 200233, China
Qiang Wang: School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
Qing Wang: Shanghai Academy of Environmental Sciences, Shanghai 200233, China
Jinghua Su: Shanghai Academy of Environmental Sciences, Shanghai 200233, China
Cheng Shen: Shanghai Academy of Environmental Sciences, Shanghai 200233, China
Shenfa Huang: School of Environmental and Geographical Sciences, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 11, 1-15

Abstract: Land formation seriously disturbs coastal salt marsh wetland ecosystems, while its influences on soil organic carbon (SOC) under chronosequences remain unclear. In this study, the impacts of the land formation time (from one to fourteen years) and soil properties on the chronosequences changes of SOC in the nascent wetland of Hengsha Island were investigated. The study results showed the following. (1) As the land-formation time extended, the SOC experienced a significant increase, tripling after a period of 14 years. The changes in SOC occurred mainly in the surface layer but not in the deep soil layer. Specifically, the surface layer’s average SOC reached 5.52 g·kg −1 , markedly higher than 3.17 g·kg −1 in the deeper layer. (2) Spearman correlation analysis revealed that the ammonium nitrogen ( N H 4 + -N), aboveground biomass (AGB), and soil water content (SWC) were positively correlated with the SOC. Methane emissions (CH 4 ) and SOC exhibited a negative correlation. (3) The structural equation model (SEM) illustrated that the duration of soil deformation directly impacted the vegetation growth and affected the distribution characteristics of the SOC by modifying the soil environmental conditions. Changes in SOC following land formation influenced the rapid succession of soil properties and vegetation, with the modification of carbon sinks in the ecosystems.

Keywords: salt marsh wetland; land formation; soil organic carbon; chronosequence; SEM (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/11/4553/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/11/4553/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:11:p:4553-:d:1403156

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().