Soil quality assessment of coastal wetlands in the Yellow River Delta of China based on the minimum data set. (July 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhang, Guangliang; Bai, Junhong; Xi, Min; Zhao, Qingqing; Lu, Qiongqiong; Jia, Jia
• Is Part Of: Ecological indicators. Volume 66(2016)
• Page Start: 458
• Page End: 466
• Publication Date: 2016-07
• Subjects: Soil quality assessment -- Minimum data set -- Principal components analysis -- Soil quality index -- Coastal wetlands; Environmental monitoring -- Periodicals; Environmental management -- Periodicals; Environmental impact analysis -- Periodicals; Environmental risk assessment -- Periodicals; Sustainable development -- Periodicals; 333.71405
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2016.01.046
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1470-160X

Abstract

Highlights: SSC, TC, Mg, NO3 − -N and TS were identified as the MDS for soil quality assessment. Much higher SQI values in TFR were observed in summer than in autumn and spring. STFR soils showed significantly higher SQI values than TFR soils in autumn. Soil salt content, TC and Mg were the dominant contributors to the SQI values. The SQI based on MDS is a powerful tool for wetland soil quality assessment. Abstract: Little information is available to assess the dynamic changes in wetland soil quality in coastal regions, though it is essential for wetland conservation and management. Soil samples were collected in Suaeda salsa wetlands (SWs), Tamarix chinensis wetlands (TWs), Suaeda salsa – Tamarix chinensis wetlands (STWs), freshwater Phragmites australis wetlands (FPWs) and saltwater Phragmites australis wetlands (SPWs) in three sampling periods (i.e., summer and autumn of 2007 and spring of 2008). According to the flooding characteristics of these wetlands, the study area could be grouped into three sub-regions: short-term flooding region (STFR), seasonal flooding region (SFR) and tidal flooding region (TFR). Soil quality was evaluated using the soil quality index (SQI), which was calculated using the selected minimum data set (MDS) based on principal components analysis (PCA). Our results showed that soil salt content (SSC), total carbon (TC), magnesium (Mg), nitrate nitrogen (NO3 − -N) and total sulfur (TS) consisted of a MDS among 13 soil properties. The SQI values varied from 0.18 to 0.66 for all soil samples, of which the highest and lowest SQI values were observed in TFR. The average SQI values were significantly higher in summer (0.50 ± 0.13) than in spring (0.37 ± 0.13) and autumn (0.36 ± 0.11) in the whole study area ( p < 0.05). The average SQI values followed the order STFR (0.44 ± 0.12) > TFR (0.41 ± 0.15) > SFR (0.35 ± 0.09) although no significant differences were observed among the three regions ( p > 0.05). SPWs and SWs soils showed higher SQI values (0.50 ± 0.10 and 0.47 ± 0.15, respectively) than TWs (0.30 ± 0.08) soils ( p < 0.05). The SSC was the dominant factor of soil quality with its proportion of 34.1% contributing to the SQI values, followed by TC (24.5%) and Mg (24.1%). Correlation analysis also showed that SQI values were significantly negatively correlated with SSC. SSC might be a characteristic indicator of wetland soil quality assessment in coastal regions. The findings of this study showed that the SQI based on MDS is a powerful tool for wetland soil quality assessment.