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

Zhang, Jing; Sha, Chenyan; Li, Songshuo; Wang, Min; Wang, Qiang; Wang, Qing; Su, Jinghua; Shen, Cheng; Huang, Shenfa

doi:10.3390/su16114553

Open AccessArticle

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

by

Jing Zhang

¹

,

Chenyan Sha

²,

Songshuo Li

²,

Min Wang

²,

Qiang Wang

³,

Qing Wang

²,

Jinghua Su

²,

Cheng Shen

² and

Shenfa Huang

^1,4,*

¹

School of Environmental and Geographical Sciences, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China

²

Shanghai Academy of Environmental Sciences, Shanghai 200233, China

³

School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China

⁴

Shanghai Technology Center for Reduction of Pollution and Carbon Emissions, Shanghai 200235, China

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Sustainability 2024, 16(11), 4553; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16114553

Submission received: 16 April 2024 / Revised: 16 May 2024 / Accepted: 25 May 2024 / Published: 27 May 2024

(This article belongs to the Section Environmental Sustainability and Applications)

Download

Browse Figures

Versions Notes

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 (CH₄) 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

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Zhang, J.; Sha, C.; Li, S.; Wang, M.; Wang, Q.; Wang, Q.; Su, J.; Shen, C.; Huang, S. Chronosequence Changes of Soil Organic Carbon in Salt Marshes under Artificial Intervention: A Case Study of Hengsha Island in the Yangtze Estuary. Sustainability 2024, 16, 4553. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16114553

AMA Style

Zhang J, Sha C, Li S, Wang M, Wang Q, Wang Q, Su J, Shen C, Huang S. Chronosequence Changes of Soil Organic Carbon in Salt Marshes under Artificial Intervention: A Case Study of Hengsha Island in the Yangtze Estuary. Sustainability. 2024; 16(11):4553. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16114553

Chicago/Turabian Style

Zhang, Jing, Chenyan Sha, Songshuo Li, Min Wang, Qiang Wang, Qing Wang, Jinghua Su, Cheng Shen, and Shenfa Huang. 2024. "Chronosequence Changes of Soil Organic Carbon in Salt Marshes under Artificial Intervention: A Case Study of Hengsha Island in the Yangtze Estuary" Sustainability 16, no. 11: 4553. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16114553

APA Style

Zhang, J., Sha, C., Li, S., Wang, M., Wang, Q., Wang, Q., Su, J., Shen, C., & Huang, S. (2024). Chronosequence Changes of Soil Organic Carbon in Salt Marshes under Artificial Intervention: A Case Study of Hengsha Island in the Yangtze Estuary. Sustainability, 16(11), 4553. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16114553

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Menu

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

Abstract

Share and Cite

Article Metrics

Article Access Statistics

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI