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Ecological characteristics of Phragmites australis vegetation at different water table levels and their relation to environmental factors in the Yellow River Delta.

GUAN Bo1,2, LI Yun-zhao1, XIA Jiang-bao2, DONG Hong-fang3, LU Zhen-bo4, YU Jun-bao1**   

  1. (1Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes and Ecological Remediation, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai 264003, Shandong, China; 2 Key Laboratory for EcoEnvironmental Sciences in Yellow River Delta, Binzhou University, Binzhou 256603, Shandong, China; 3 The Administration Center of the Yellow River Delta Sustainable Development Institute of Shandong Province, Dongying 257091, Shandong, China; 4 Shandong Key Laboratory of Marine Ecological Restoration, Shandong Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Yantai 264006, Shangdong, China)
  • Online:2014-10-10 Published:2014-10-10

Abstract: The ecological characteristics of Phragmites australis wetlands at different water table levels in the Yellow River Delta and the related soil environmental factors were studied. The results showed that soil electrical conductivities (EC) of P. australis wetlands were significantly different at different water table levels. The lowest EC value occurred in the highest water table area. The ecological characteristics of P. australis wetlands showed great differences at different water table levels. The maximum values of plant height, shoot diameter, vegetation coverage and plant biomass occurred at the highest water table level. The plant biomass at the highest water table level was 10 t·hm-2. The contents of soil nutrient elements in the study area were at relatively low levels, and also showed significant differences among the different soil layers. The correlation analysis showed that the soil nutrient elements had various correlations with the contents of soil clay, coarse clay, fine silt, and coarse silt. The content of soil available phosphorus showed highly significant positive correlation with plant height, shoot diameter, vegetation coverage, and plant biomass. Therefore, it can be concluded that the soil available phosphorus is a limiting nutritional factor of plant growth in the coastal wetland of the Yellow River Delta.

Key words: hydrogen and oxygen isotope, overland flow, soil architecture, interflow, runoff gene-ration mechanism