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Effects of Smooth Cordgrass Spartina alterniflora Invasion on Macrobenthic Fauna in the Yellow River Delta

  • Wetland Biodiversity
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Abstract

Smooth cordgrass Spartina alterniflora, as a species for ecological engineering, was introduced to the Yellow River Delta (the YRD) in 1990. However, it expanded rapidly due to its strong compatibility and competitiveness in recent years. It would inevitably present severe threats to native plants and local macroinvertebrates. This study aimed to test the abiotic and biotic responses to the S. alterniflora invasion by analyzing the samples of pore-waters, sediments, and macrobenthos collected in different sites following the invasion chronology in August 2018. Results showed that with the invasion time, the contents of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (NOx− and NH4+) and phosphate (PO43−) increased, while the content of silicate (SiO32−) decreased in pore-water; the content of total organic matter (TOM) decreased firstly, and then increased in the sediment; the species composition of macrobenthos also changed significantly prolong invasion time, Crustacea disappeared, and Chironomidae occurred gradually; the values of the abundance, biomass, and biodiversity of macrobenthos decreased firstly and increased subsequently with invasion history. Our findings reflect the chronological effects of S. alterniflora invasion on the benthic environment and macrobenthic community, which contribute to establishing the linkage between the exotic plant invasion and benthic ecosystem, providing a scientific basis for wetland biodiversity conservation and resource management in the YRD.

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Data Availability

Some data and material used during the study could be available from the corresponding author by request. Requests should clarify the purpose of the research and specify relevant ethical reviews for the proposed research. Data acquired by this process are for scholarly purposes only and may not be sold or independently distributed.

Code Availability

Code generated used during the study is available from the corresponding author by request.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all staffs of the Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve for their great support during the sampling. We also appreciate anonymous reviewers for their suggestions and comments on the earlier version of this manuscript.

Funding

The study was financially supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. XDA23050202 and XDA23050304); International Partnership Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (No.133137KYSB20200002), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 42176160).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CAS Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes and Ecological Remediation, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai, 264003, China

    Shaoyu Jiang, Chuanxin Zhang, Linlin Chen, Chunyun Liu, Lang Yan & Baoquan Li

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Science, 10049, Beijing, China

    Shaoyu Jiang

  3. Center for Ocean Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 266071, Qingdao, China

    Linlin Chen & Baoquan Li

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  1. Shaoyu Jiang
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  2. Chuanxin Zhang
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  4. Chunyun Liu
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  5. Lang Yan
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  6. Baoquan Li
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Contributions

BQ Li developed the idea for the study and revised the manuscript; SY Jiang did the fieldwork, samples, and data analyses as well as the manuscript writing; CX Zhang did the data analyses and checked the grammar of the whole paper; CY Liu did the analyses of the environmental samples; L Yan classified some macrobenthos samples; LL Chen contributed to refining the ideas then revised the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Baoquan Li.

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Jiang, S., Zhang, C., Chen, L. et al. Effects of Smooth Cordgrass Spartina alterniflora Invasion on Macrobenthic Fauna in the Yellow River Delta. Wetlands 42, 13 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-021-01527-1

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