Soil Carbon, Nitrogen and Phosphorus Concentrations and Stoichiometries Across a Chronosequence of Restored Inland Soda Saline- Alkali Wetlands, Western Songnen Plain, Northeast China

Abstract

Soil carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations and stoichiometries can be used to evaluate the success indicators to the effects of wetland restoration and reflect ecosystem function. Restoration of inland soda saline-alkali wetlands is widespread, however, the soil nutrition changes that follow restoration are unclear. We quantified the recovery trajectories of soil physicochemical properties, including soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) pools, for a chronosequence of three restored wetlands (7 yr, 12 yr and 21 yr) and compared these properties to those of degraded and natural wetlands in the western Songnen Plain, Northeast China. Wetland degradation lead to the loss of soil nutrients. Relative to natural wetlands, the mean reductions of in SOC, TN, and TP concentrations were 89.6%, 65.5% and 52.5%, respectively. Nutrients recovered as years passed after restoration. The SOC, TN, and TP concentrations increased by 2.36 times, 1.15 times, and 0.83 times, respectively in degraded wetlands that had been restored for 21 yr, but remained 29.2%, 17.3%, and 12.8% lower, respectively, than those in natural wetlands. The soil C:N (RCN), C:P (RCP), and N:P (RNP) ratios increased from 5.92 to 8.81, 45.36 to 79.19, and 7.67 to 8.71, respectively in the wetland that had been restored for 12 yr. These results were similar to those from the natural wetland and the wetland that had been restored for 21 yr (P > 0.05). Soil nutrients changes occurred mainly in the upper layers (≤ 30 cm), and no significant differences were found in deeper soils (> 30 cm). Based on this, we inferred that it would take at least 34 yr for SOC, TN, and TP concentrations and 12 yr for RCN, RCP, and RNP in the top soils of degraded wetlands to recover to levels of natural wetlands. Soil salinity negatively influenced SOC (r =.0.704, P < 0.01), TN (r =.0.722, P < 0.01), and TP (r =.0.882, P < 0.01) concentrations during wetland restoration, which indicates that reducing salinity is beneficial to SOC, TN, and TP recovery. Moreover, plants were an important source of soil nutrients and vegetation restoration was conducive to soil nutrient accumulation. In brief, wetland restoration increased the accumulation of soil biogenic elements, which indicated that positive ecosystem functions changes had occurred.