Effects of Reclamation on Soil Carbon and Nitrogen in Coastal Wetlands of Liaohe River Delta,China

To evaluate the influence of wetland reclamation on vertical distribution of carbon and nitrogen in coastal wetland soils, we measured the soil organic carbon(SOC), soil total nitrogen(STN) and selected soil properties at five sampling plots(reed marsh, paddy field, corn field, forest land and oil-polluted wetland) in the Liaohe River estuary in September 2013. The results showed that reclamation significantly changed the contents of SOC and STN in the Liaohe River estuary(P < 0.001). The SOC concentrations were in the order: oil-polluted wetland > corn field > paddy field > forest land > reed marsh, with mean values of 52.17, 13.14, 11.46, 6.44 and 6.16 g/kg, respectively. STN followed a similar order as SOC, with mean values of 1351.14, 741.04, 632.32, 496.17 and 390.90 mg/kg, respectively. Interaction of reclamation types and soil depth had significant effects on SOC and STN, while soil depth had significant effects on SOC, but not on STN. The contents of SOC and STN were negatively correlated with pH and redox potential(Eh) in reed marsh and corn field, while the SOC and STN in paddy field had positive correlations with electrical conductivity(EC). Dissolved organic carbon(DOC), ammonium nitrogen(NH_4^+-N) and nitrate nitrogen(NO_3~–-N) were also significantly changed by human activities. NH_4^+-N and NO_3~–-N increased to different degrees, and forest land had the highest NO_3~–-N concentration and lowest DOC concentration, which could have been caused by differences in soil aeration and fertilization. Overall, the results indicate that reed harvest increased soil carbon and nitrogen release in the Liaohe River Estuary, while oil pollution significantly increased the SOC and STN; however, these cannot be used as indicators of soil fertility and quality because of the serious oil pollution.

Trade-off between leaf chlorophyll and betacyanins in Suaeda salsa in the Liaohe estuary wetland in northeast China

Aims Pigment composition is an important functional trait that can be affected by environmental factors.the objective of this study was to investigate the effect of soil salinity on pigment composition in Suaeda salsa by comparing chlorophyll and betacyanin content in the Liaohe estuary wetland,a typical coastal wetland in northeast China.Methods We investigated the plant biomass,percentage of red leaves and pigment content(chlorophyll a,chlorophyll b and betacyanins)in S.salsa in intertidal and supratidal zones of the upper,middle and lower reaches of the Liaohe estuary wetlands.the Na^(+)content of both the soil and plant was also measured.Full analysis of variance and multivariate analysis were used to compare differences in pig-ment content and Na^(+)content between the supratidal and intertidal zones.Important Findings Pigment composition was significantly affected by soil salinity.With increasing soil salinity,the percentage of red leaves was higher in the intertidal zone than in the supratidal zone.In all three reaches,plants had lower chlorophyll a content and higher betacyanin con-tent in the intertidal zone than in the supratidal zone.Compared to chlorophyll a,chlorophyll b was less sensitive to soil salinity.there were no differences in chlorophyll b content between the intertidal and supratidal zones in the upper and lower reaches.Furthermore,pigment composition was associated with both the plant tissue and soil Na^(+)content.Compared to the supratidal zone,the intertidal zone had a higher Na^(+)content in plants.there was a negative rela-tionship between plant chlorophyll content and soil Na^(+)content,but a positive relationship between betacyanin content and soil Na^(+)content.Overall,the results indicated that there might be a trade-off between leaf chlorophyll and betacyanin content in S.salsa to main-tain its growth and survival in high salinity environments.