Spartina alterniflora Invasion Alters Carbon Exchange and Soil Organic Carbon in Eastern Salt Marsh of China. Issue 4 (28th July 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhou, Lingyan; Yin, Shenglai; An, Shuqing; Yang, Wen; Deng, Qi; Xie, Dong; Ji, Haiting; Ouyang, Yan; Cheng, Xiaoli
• Is Part Of: Clean. Volume 43:Issue 4(2015:Apr.)
• Page Start: 569
• Page End: 576
• Publication Date: 2014-07-28
• Subjects: Water quality -- Periodicals; Water -- Pollution -- Periodicals; Pollution -- Periodicals; Bioremediation -- Periodicals; Sewage -- Periodicals; Water chemistry -- Periodicals; 333.7205
• DOI: 10.1002/clen.201300838
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1863-0650

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" xml:lang="en"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <sec id="clen201300838-sec-0001" sec-type="section"> <p>We investigated carbon (C) fluxes from <italic>Spartina alterniflora</italic> community comparing with native C<sub>3</sub>‐plant (<italic>Suaeda salsa</italic> and <italic>Phragmites australis</italic>) communities as well as mudflat in a coastal marsh in eastern China by determining the net ecosystem exchange (NEE), ecosystem respiration (<italic>R</italic><sub>ECO</sub>) and soil respiration (<italic>R</italic><sub>SOIL</sub>) monthly with static chambers over one year. Plant biological traits and soil organic carbon (SOC) were measured at the end of the growing season. Gross primary production (GPP) was calculated as the sum of <italic>R</italic><sub>ECO</sub> and NEE, while the respiration of aboveground plant (<italic>R</italic><sub>AG</sub>) was assessed by the difference between <italic>R</italic><sub>ECO</sub> and <italic>R</italic><sub>SOIL</sub>. The invasion of <italic>S. alterniflora</italic> significantly increased <italic>R</italic><sub>ECO</sub>, GPP, and <italic>R</italic><sub>AG</sub> in salt marsh. The NEE in the <italic>S. alterniflora</italic> community was significantly lower than in mudflat and <italic>S. salsa</italic> community (<italic>p</italic> < 0.05), but was comparable to that in <italic>P. australis</italic> community (<italic>p</italic> > 0.05). <italic>R</italic><sub>SOIL</sub> among sites with different communities did not show significant variations (<italic>p</italic> > 0.05). Surface water inhibited <italic>R</italic><sub>SOIL</sub> and made it insensitive to changes in environmental factors across communities. Relative to other communities, the lower shoot–root ratio of <italic>S. alterniflora</italic> community together with its higher <italic>R</italic><sub>ECO</sub> and <italic>R</italic><sub>AG</sub> determined a higher proportion of C allocated in belowground, which ultimately resulted in increment of SOC as well as increased GPP. The invasion of <italic>S. alterniflora</italic> potentially induces a negative feedback to the global climate change by regulating the C sequestration in salt marsh ecosystems.</p> </sec> </abstract>