RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT IN THE YANGTZE BASIN >> 2015, Vol. 24 >> Issue (11): 1898-1905.doi: 10.11870/cjlyzyyhj201511013

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EFFECTS OF SEMI-LUNAR TIDAL CYCLING ON SOIL PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES IN COASTAL WETLANDS

BU Nai-shun1, WANG Kun1, HOU Yu-le1, LI Gang1, QI Shu-juan1, FANG Chang-ming2, QU Jun-feng1   

  1. 1. School of Environmental Science and Spatial Informatics, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, China;
    2. School of Life Science, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China
  • Received:2015-04-07 Revised:2015-07-10 Online:2015-11-20

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Abstract: As important hydrological features of coastal wetlands, periodic tides usually present two types of hydrological cycles on different time scales, semi-diurnal and semi-lunar tidal cycles (consisting of neap and spring tide periods (NTP and STP)). Therefore, tidal effects on soil physical and chemical properties of the vegetated zone may vary greatly between tidal cycles, because of different inundation frequencies and durations. Previous studies suggested that soil properties showed no significant change across the semi-diurnal cycle, probably because these work were mainly conducted in STP when soils were inundated or water-saturated most of the time. However, there has been no study on whether or how the semi-lunar tidal cycle affects soil properties in coastal wetlands. A field study was conducted in Chongming Dongtan wetland in the Yangtze River estuary to investigate temporal variations of soil physical and chemical properties along with the transition from NTP to STP in a semi-lunar tidal cycle and to explore possible underlying mechanisms of these variations. During the cycling of semi-lunar tides, periodic neap and spring tides significantly affected soil physical and chemical properties of coastal wetlands. A major change caused by the transition between NTP and STP was in soil water conditions. Soil moisture was significantly greater in STP than in NTP, because soil was over-saturated or submerged nearly all the time during STP due to frequent tidal inundation, especially in the low tide zone. Further analysis indicated that increased moisture in top soils in STP was greater than those in subsurface and deep soils. This suppressed the diffusion of O2 from atmosphere into soil, and existing soil O2 was rapidly consumed during STP. Therefore, soil Eh decreased dramatically with the transition from neap to spring tides. Regression analysis also showed that soil Eh was negatively correlated with moisture (R2 = 0.60, P < 0.0001). Furthermore, variations of soil Eh with that transition increased gradually from the low to the high tide zone, probably because the frequency of inundation by tidewater is greater and the duration is longer in the former zone. No significant change in soil pH values was observed between NTP and STP. Soil pH is an important factor in regulating the soil inorganic carbon (SIC) pool. SIC may account for more than 60% of soil total carbon in wetlands of the Yangtze River estuary. Periodic tidal inundation can maintain the alkaline environment (pH > 8.0) of soils, ensuring the stability of the SIC pool in the estuary. Soil conductivity and sulfate content were significantly greater in STP than in NTP because of the influence of tides, suggesting that tides transport substantial nutrients to coastal wetlands. Because of greater inundation frequency and longer duration, this exchange of salts was more efficient in the low tide zone than in the high tide zone. Consequently, compared with NTP, increase in soil conductivity and sulfate content in STP decreased gradually from the low to the high tide zone. Thus nutrient input via this mechanism may be vital in supporting high plant productivity in coastal wetlands. Positive effects of nutrient input on plant productivity were likely stronger in the low tide zone than in the high tide zone. This speculation may be confirmed by the results that plant traits of Spartina alterniflora such as aboveground plant biomass, plant height, and basal stem diameter were more advantageous in the low tide zone than in the high tide zone. In addition, soil bulk density, pH values, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dissolved nitrogen (DN) did not change significantly with the transition from NTP to STP, except at site S1 where only topsoil bulk density, DOC and DN were significantly lower in NTP than in STP. These findings indicate that semi-lunar tidal cycling can significantly impact soil physical and chemical properties in coastal wetlands, especially soil water, salinity and nutrient characteristics as well as redox environment, which may play important roles in regulating plant growth and relative ecological processes of coastal wetlands.

Key words: semi-lunar tidal cycle, coastal wetlands, soil physical and chemical properties, Chongming Dongtan, Spartina alterniflora

CLC Number: 

  • S728.5
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