Co-regulation of rainfall amount and timing on soil carbon mineralization in a typical salt marsh of the Yellow River Delta, China

doi:10.13287/j.1001-9332.202102.033

Abstract

Abstract: Studying the effects of rainfall regimes such as rainfall amount and timing on soil carbon mineralization is of great importance for our understanding the mechanisms underlying the stability and accumulation of soil carbon in coastal salt marshes. In this study, we examined the responses of soil carbon mineralization (CO₂ and CH₄ fluxes) from undisturbed soil columns to rainfall events in different seasons (dry and wet seasons) with filed experiments in a primary Suaeda salsa region in the Yellow River Delta salt-marsh wetland, which is far away from the coast and not affected by tides. The results showed that rainfall amount and timing had a significant interaction in affecting soil CO₂ flux rates. During the dry season, large rainfall events significantly reduced soil CO₂ flux rates but had no significant effect in the wet season, which might be closely related to the significant increase in soil water content and salinity. Rainfall amount, rainfall timing and their interactions had no significant effect on soil CH₄ efflux rates. Rainfall timing and rainfall amount did not affect CH₄/CO₂. CH₄/CO₂ increased with increasing soil water content and salinity. Soil water content and soil salinity showed similar increases to increasing rainfall amount. Our results suggested that the changing rainfall regime under climate change in the future would have a great impact on soil carbon mineralization and carbon sink function by regulating soil water and salt migration in this region.

Key words: rainfall regime, climate change, the Yellow River Delta, salt marsh, carbon sink, soil carbon mineralization

LI Xue, DONG Jie, LI Pei-guang, WANG Xiao-jie, HAN Guang-xuan, SONG Wei-min. Co-regulation of rainfall amount and timing on soil carbon mineralization in a typical salt marsh of the Yellow River Delta, China[J]. Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology, 2021, 32(2): 581-590.

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