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Soil Characteristics in Relation to Vegetation Communities in the Wetlands of Poyang Lake, China

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Abstract

Poyang Lake is an important wetland with global ecological functions. Impact of plant species composition on soil physicochemical characteristics is potentially critical but is as yet poorly understood in this great, shallow and water passing lake wetland. Five dominant plant communities, Phragmites communis community (Phragmites), Polygonum hydropiper community (P. hydropiper), Artemisia selengensis community (A. selengensis), Carex cinerascens community (C. cinerascens) and Phalaris ayuyldinacea community (Phalaris) were surveyed to identify the influences of plant species composition on soil properties. Results show great heterogeneity in soil characters among studied vegetation communities. The lowest average values of pH and soil bulk density are presented in soil with Phragmites, while the highest ones are determined in C. cinerascens and A. selengensis, respectively. Moreover, C. cinerascens is determined with the highest average contents of total organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen (TN), whereas Phalaris community presents the lowest soil carbon and nutrient accumulation in surface soil. Plots of C. cinerascens, Phragmites and Phalaris are identified with obvious convergence patterns, while dispersive patterns are identified in A. selengensis and P. hydropiper, suggesting great heterogeneity in soil properties among typical communities in Poyang Lake.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Foundation of National Key Basic Research, China (2012CB417006) and the National Scientific Foundation of China (Grant 41,171,024).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China

    Wang Xiaolong, Xu Ligang, Wan Rongrong & Chen Yuwei

  2. School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Zhejiang Gongshang University, Hangzhou, China

    Han Jingyi

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  1. Wang Xiaolong
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Correspondence to Wang Xiaolong.

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Xiaolong, W., Jingyi, H., Ligang, X. et al. Soil Characteristics in Relation to Vegetation Communities in the Wetlands of Poyang Lake, China. Wetlands 34, 829–839 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-014-0546-x

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