Soil Degradation Effects on Plant Diversity and Nutrient in Tussock Meadow Wetlands

Abstract

Soil degradation, a growing problem in the arid and semi-arid area, significantly influences wetland dynamics and nutrient cycling. Using tussock wetlands as objectives, this study aims to explain the effects of long-term soil degradation on plant diversity and dominant species and identify the impacts of long-term soil degradation, growing month, species, and their interactions on plant nutrient stoichiometry in Momoge wetland. Field experiments were undertaken to explore the responses of plant diversity and nutrient to soil degradation in Momoge wetland. The relationships between plant nutrient and soil physicochemical properties were examined by canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). Soil nutrient significantly decreased in degraded tussock wetlands. Long-term soil degradation altered plant diversity and the important values of dominant species. Plant nutrient indicated that the effects of soil degradation on plant carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus were not significant at the single species level. Furthermore, plant stoichiometric patterns were not sensitive to soil degradation. However, both the N/P ratio in soil and plants showed a nitrogen limitation for the plant growth in wetlands. The CCA indicated that the soil total nitrogen and electrical conductivity were the primary factors affecting the cycle of biogenic elements in tussock wetlands. Results highlight the differences in biogenic elements in wetland soil and vegetation and identify the significant effects of soil degradation on the wetland plants. These findings suggest that the variation of nutrient availability and electronic conductivity affects the growth of the wetland species.

Variations in the diversity of the soil microbial community and structure under various categories of degraded wetland in Sanjiang Plain, northeastern China

“…Soil nutrients are important factors that affect the structure and growth of plant communities in wetland ecosystems (D. Zhang et al, 2019). Changes in nutrient content and ratio control plant nutrients.…”

“…The wetland degradation process includes hydrologic processes, soil processes, biological processes, physiological and biochemical processes, and biogeochemical processes (Han, Yang, Yang, & Li, 2011). Current research on wetland degradation addresses the distribution and succession of the biological community (J. Wu et al, 2020; D. Zhang et al, 2019), changes in soil characteristics (Alhassan et al, 2018; Wen et al, 2019), and changes in water and landscape (T. Hu, Liu, Zheng, Zhang, & Huang, 2019; Khaledian et al, 2017).…”

Effect of Wetland Restoration and Degradation on Nutrient Trade-Off of Carex schmidtii

“…Biomass nutrient stoichiometry indicates the limits of elements on plant growth and explains plant functional diversity, community structure, and vegetation patterns based on the availability of nutrients (Busch et al, 2018;Peng et al, 2019;Yu et al, 2020;Sardans et al, 2021). Dynamic nutrient stoichiometry, availability, and limitation imply plant nutrition status at different growth stages (Zhang et al, 2019a;Bratt et al, 2020). Plant nutrient trade-off and stoichiometric relationship regarding biomass nutrients can regulate the dynamic equilibrium of nutrients and maintain the stoichiometric homeostasis or flexibility in plants and the ecosystem (Wright et al, 2004;Yu et al, 2015;Tian et al, 2018).…”

“…Nutrient availability and limitation drive ecosystem development, affecting species competition of the vegetation and plant growth (Güsewell and Koerselman, 2002;Zhang et al, 2019a). The N:P ratio and N:K ratio regulate plant ecophysiological processes and resource acquisition (Koerselman and Meuleman, 1996;Hoosbeek et al, 2002;Peng et al, 2019), the dynamic change of which can also precisely reflect the gradual nutrient limitation and shifts in nutrient availability.…”

“…Momoge Wetland Nature Reserve (MWNR), an international wetland, appeals to a variety of rare birds like white stork, northern goshawk, lesser kestrel, and white-naped crane (Jiang et al, 2016;Ding et al, 2021). Carex schmidtii, a native tussockforming species, is widely distributed in the riparian wetland along the Nenjiang River in MWNR (Zhang et al, 2019b;Qi et al, 2021a), which has abundant root systems and storage of biological elements (i.e., C, N, P, Si), and was capable of supporting a rich plant diversity (Lawrence and Zedler, 2011;Opdekamp et al, 2012;Zhang et al, 2019a;Qi et al, 2021a). Therefore, C. schmidtii tussock wetlands play important roles in nutrient cycling and biodiversity supporting.…”