Analysis of the contributions of human factors and natural factors affecting the vegetation pattern in coastal wetlands

Abstract

ABSTRACT Introduction: Accurate identification of the dominant factors affecting coastal wetlands can provide a reference for vegetation rehabilitation. In this study, quantitative analysis was performed on the Yancheng coastal wetland using ANOVA and geostatistical methods.Outcomes/other: The results indicated that in the directions perpendicular and parallel to the coastline, the soil moisture and salinity in the study area exhibited relatively significant (p<0.05) spatial variability. Vegetation in the southern experimental zone was in a low-moisture, low-salinity ecological niche, whereas vegetation in the northern experimental zone was in a high-moisture, high-salinity ecological niche. Soil salinity exhibited higher spatial variability than soil moisture, and it was most correlated with unvegetated mudflats, followed by areas with Spartina alterniflora, Suaeda glauca, and Phragmites australis.Discussion: The fitting of the semivariogram showed that the nugget and sill of the ratio were relatively low (<25%) for soil moisture and salinity in the northern experimental zone and northern buffer zone, whereas these values were relatively high (>75%) for soil moisture and salinity in the southern experimental zone and southern buffer zone.Conclusion: Compared with the northern study area, the contribution of human disturbance to the spatial heterogeneity of soil moisture and salinity in the southern study area is higher.