Abstract
In coastal wetlands, the effect of vegetation on soil organic carbon (C) quality is not clear. In this study, we investigated soil organic C and total nitrogen (N) in the whole soils, particulate organic matter (POM) and different aggregate fractions in the 0–15 and 15–30 cm layers in Suaeda salsa clusters and bare grounds in the salt marshes of the Liaohe Delta, China. S. salsa increased soil organic C, total N, POMC and POMN concentrations in both soil layers. Interestingly, the presence of S. salsa caused an increase in the amount of macroaggregates (>0.25 mm) in both 0–15 and 15–30 cm depths, whereas the vegetation effect on microaggregates (0.053–0.25 mm) and silt- and clay-sized fractions (<0.053 mm) differed with soil depth. Compared with bare grounds, S. salsa clusters had higher soil organic C and N contents at each aggregate size class. Among the three aggregate size classes, the magnitude of increases in soil organic C and N contents in the macroaggregates was the largest. Our results suggest that vegetation substantially increases the proportion of relatively labile soil organic C and contributes to soil organic C sequestration in tidal salt marshes in the Liaohe Delta, China.
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Acknowledgments
This research was funded by the Ministry of Land and Resources Program “Special foundation for scientific research on public causes” (Nos. 201111023 and GZH201100203), Key Laboratory of Marine Hydrocarbon Resources and Environmental Geology, Ministry of Land and Resources (No. MRE201101) and “Strategic Priority Research Program—Climate Change: Carbon Budget and Related Issue” of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. XDA05050508). We thank De-Hui Zeng and Gui-Yan Ai for the laboratory analyses, and Ya-Lin Hu, Lu-Jun Li, two anonymous reviewers and associate editor of the journal for their valuable comments and suggestions on this manuscript.
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Mao, R., Zhang, XH. & Meng, HN. Effect of Suaeda salsa on Soil Aggregate-Associated Organic Carbon and Nitrogen in Tidal Salt Marshes in the Liaohe Delta, China. Wetlands 34, 189–195 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-013-0497-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-013-0497-7