Pedosphere 18(1): 77--85, 2008
ISSN 1002-0160/CN 32-1315/P
©2008 Soil Science Society of China
Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science Press
| Effect of an alien species Spartina alterniflora Loisel on biogeochemical processes of intertidal ecosystem in the Jiangsu coastal region, China |
ZHOU Hong-Xia 1,2, LIU Jin-E1, ZHOU Jun1 and QIN Pei1 |
1 Life Science School, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093 (China). E-mail: pometia7@yahoo.com.cn;
2 Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650204 (China) |
| ABSTRACT |
| Spartina alterniflora Loisel, a species vegetating in intertidal fiats along the eastern coast of the United States, was introduced in China almost 30 years ago and has become an urgent topic due to its invasiveness in the coastal zone of China. The impacts of this alien species S. alterniflora on intertidal ecosystem processes in the Jiangsu coastland were investigated by comparing the sediment nutrient availability and trace element concentration characteristics in a mudfiat and those of a four-year old Spartina salt marsh that had earlier been a mudflat. At each study site, fifteen plots were sampled in different seasons to determine the sediment characteristics along the tidal fiats. The results suggested that Spartina salt marsh sediments had significantly higher total N, available P, and water content, but lower pH and bulk density than mudfiat sediments. Sediment salinity, water content, total N, organic C, and available P decreased along a seaward gradient in the Spartina salt marsh and increased with vegetation biomass. Furthermore, the concentrations of trace elements and some metal elements in the sediment were higher under Spartina although these increases were not significant. Also, in the Spartina marsh, some heavy metals were concentrated in the surface layer of the sediment. The Spartina salt marsh in this study was only four years old; therefore, it is suggested that further study of this alien species on a longer time frame in the Jiangsu coastland should be carried out. |
| Key Words: alien species, biogeochemical processes, intertidal ecosystem, salt marsh, Spartina alterniflora Loisel |
| Citation: Zhou, H. X., LIU Jin-E, Zhou, J. and Qin, P. 2008. Effect of an alien species Spartina alterniflora Loisel on biogeochemical processes of intertidal ecosystem in the Jiangsu coastal region, China. Pedosphere. 18(1): 77-85. |
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