Skip to main content

Effects of wetland recovery on soil labile carbon and nitrogen in the Sanjiang Plain

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment volume 185, pages 5861–5871 (2013)Cite this article

Abstract

Soil management significantly affects the soil labile organic factors. Understanding carbon and nitrogen dynamics is extremely helpful in conducting research on active carbon and nitrogen components for different kinds of soil management. In this paper, we examined the changes in microbial biomass carbon (MBC), microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) to assess the effect and mechanisms of land types, organic input, soil respiration, microbial species, and vegetation recovery under Deyeuxia angustifolia freshwater marshes (DAMs) and recovered freshwater marsh (RFM) in the Sanjiang Plain, Northeast China. Identifying the relationship among the dynamics of labile carbon, nitrogen, and soil qualification mechanism using different land management practices is therefore important. Cultivation and land use affect intensely the DOC, DON, MBC, and MBN in the soil. After DAM soil tillage, the DOC, DON, MBC, and MBN at the surface of the agricultural soil layer declined significantly. In contrast, their recovery was significant in the RFM surface soil. A long time was needed for the concentration of cultivated soil total organic carbon and total nitrogen to be restored to the wetland level. The labile carbon and nitrogen fractions can reach a level similar to that of the wetland within a short time. Typical wetland ecosystem signs, such as vegetation, microbes, and animals, can be recovered by soil labile carbon and nitrogen fraction restoration. In this paper, the D. angustifolia biomass attained natural wetland level after 8 years, indicating that wetland soil labile fractions can support wetland eco-function in a short period of time (4 to 8 years) for reconstructed wetland under suitable environmental conditions.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

43,34 €

Price includes VAT (Finland)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

References

  • An, S., Chang, Q., & Liu, J. (2003). Study on the characteristic properties and genesis of land desertification in the agriculture and husbandry interlace zone. Acta Ecologica Sinica, 01, 108–113.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burdige, D. J., & Gardner, K. G. (1998). Molecular weight distribution of dissolved organic carbon in marine sediment pore waters. Marine Chemistry, 62, 45–64.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dalal, R. C., & Mayer, R. J. (1988). Long term trends in fertility of soils under continuous cultivation and cereal cropping in southern Queensland. Soil Research, 24, 293–300.

    Google Scholar 

  • FAO (2005). The importance of soil organic matter: key to drought-resistant soil and sustained food and production. FAO Soils Bulletin, 80, http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/a0100e/a0100e.pdf. Accessed 9 October 2012.

  • Ghani, A., Dexter, M., & Perrott, K. W. (2003). Hot-water extractable carbon in soils: a sensitive measurement for determining impacts of fertilization, grazing and cultivation. Soil Biology and Biochememistry, 35, 1231–1243.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gregorich, E. G., Carter, M. R., Angers, D. A., Monreal, C. M., & Ellert, B. H. (1994). Towards a minimum data set to assess soil organic matter quality in agricultural soils. Canadian Journal of Soil Science, 74, 367–385.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, R. F., Kaufman, J. B., & Cummings, D. L. (2002). Dynamics of aboveground and soil carbon and nitrogen stocks and cycling of available nitrogen along a land-use gradient in Rondônia, Brazil. Ecosystems, 5, 244–259.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jenkinson, D. S. (1976). The effects of biocidal treatments on metabolism in soil. Soil Biology and Biochememistry, 8, 203–208.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jonasson, S., Michelsen, A., & Schmidt, I. K. (1999). Coupling of nutrient cycling and carbon dynamics in the arctic, integration of soil microbial and plant processes. Applied Soil Ecology, 11, 135–146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Juo, A. S. R., & Lal, R. (2003). Nutrient profile in a tropical Alfisol under conventional and no-till systems. Soil Science, 127, 168–173.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kalbitz, K. (2001). Properties of organic matter in soil solution in a German fen area as dependent on land use and depth. Geoderma, 104, 203–214.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, A. C., & Papendick, R. I. (1995). Microbial characteristics of soil quality. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 5, 243–247.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kieland, K. (1994). Amino acid absorption by arctic plants: implications for plant nutrition and nitrogen cycling. Ecology, 75, 2373–2383.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knops, J. M. H., & Tilman, D. (2000). Dynamics of soil nitrogen and carbon accumulation for 61 years after agricultural abandonment. Ecology, 81, 88–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lal, R. (2002). Soil carbon dynamics in cropland and rangeland. Environmental Pollution, 116, 353–362.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Landgraf, D. (2001). Dynamics of microbial biomass in Cambisols under a 3 year succession fallow in North Eastern Saxony. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science, 164, 665–671.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liu, X. T., & Ma, X. H. (2000). Effect of large-scale reclamation on natural environment and regional environmental protection in the Sanjiang Plain. Scienta Geographic Sinica, 20, 14–19. in Chinese.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lu, R. K. (2000). Soil agrochemistry and analytical methods (pp. 231–233). Beijing: Chinese Agricultural Science and Technology Press. in Chinese.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ma, X. H., & Jiao J. Y. (2005). Contribution of soil nutrient in abandoned lands to vegetation restoration in hilly and gully regions on the loess plateau. Acta Botanica Boreali-occidentalia Sinica, 2, 123–130.

    Google Scholar 

  • Post, W. M., & Kwon, K. C. (2000). Soil carbon sequestration and land-use change. Global Change Biology, 6, 317–327.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saggar, S., Yeates, G. W., & Shepherd, T. G. (2001). Cultivation effects on soil biological properties, micro fauna and organic matter dynamics in Eutric Gleysol and Gleyic Luvisol soils in New Zealand. Soil & Tillage Research, 58, 55–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shi, P., Gong, P., Li, X., et al. (2000). Methods and practice of land use/cover change. Beijing: Science Press. in Chinese.

    Google Scholar 

  • Song, C. C., Wang, Y. Y., Bai, B. X., Lou, Y. J., & Zhao, Z. C. (2004). The changes of the soil hydrothermal condition and the dynamics of C N after the mire tillage. Environmental Science, 25(3), 168–172 (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • US EPA (2001). Threats to wetlands. EPA 843-F-01-002d. http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/pdf/threats.pdf. Accessed 9 October 2012.

  • Wang, G., Liu, G., & Xu, M. (2002). Effect of vegetation restoration on soil nutrient changes in Zhifanggou watershed of loess hilly region. Bulletin of Soil and Water Conservation, 22(1), 1–5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Xu, X. (2004). Simulating study on carbon dynamics in Calamagrostis angustifolia rhizosphere micro-ecosystem. Thesis, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun

  • Zhang, J., & Song, C. (2003). Effects of different land-use on soil physical–chemical properties in the Sanjiang Plain. Chinese Journal of Soil Science, 35(3), 371–373.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, J., Song, C., & Yang, W. (2005). Influence of land-use type on soil dissolved organic carbon in the Sanjiang Plain. China Environmental Science, 25(3), 343–347.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, J. B., Song, C. C., & Yang, W. Y. (2006). Land use effects on a distribution of labile organic carbon through soil profiles. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 70, 660–667.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, J. B., Song, C., & Wang, S. M. (2008). Short-term dynamics of carbon and nitrogen after tillage in a freshwater marsh of northeast China. Soil Tillage and Research, 99, 149–157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao, K. Y. (1999). Mires in China. Science Press, Beijing

  • Zhou, G., & Jiang, P. (2004). Changes in active organic carbon of erosion red soil by vegetation recovery. Journal of Soil Water Conservation, 6, 69–71.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the reviewers for their time and advice. This work was supported by the National Basic Research Program (973) of China (no. 2009CB421103) and the Natural Science Foundation (51208177). We also thank Jennifer Abena Kwofie for her excellent English editing.

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development on Shallow Lakes, Hohai University, Nanjing, China

    Jingyu Huang & Philip Nti Nkrumah

  2. Northeast Institute of Geography and Agricultural Ecology, Chinese Academic Sciences, Changchun, Jilin, 130012, China

    Changchun Song

  3. College of Environment, Hohai University, No. 1 Xikang Road, Nanjing, 210098, China

    Jingyu Huang

Authors
  1. Jingyu Huang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Changchun Song
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Philip Nti Nkrumah
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jingyu Huang.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Huang, J., Song, C. & Nkrumah, P.N. Effects of wetland recovery on soil labile carbon and nitrogen in the Sanjiang Plain. Environ Monit Assess 185, 5861–5871 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-012-2990-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-012-2990-5

Keywords

  • Microbial biomass carbon
  • Microbial biomass nitrogen
  • Dissolved organic carbon
  • Dissolved organic nitrogen
  • Sanjiang Plain
  • Wetland recovery