A Threshold-like Effect on the Interaction Between Hydrological
Connectivity and Dominant Plant Population in Tidal Marsh Wetlands
Abstract
Tidal marsh wetlands in the Yellow River Delta provide valuable
eco-services to the local population and global ecology. However, this
area is suffering from serious degradation under the stresses of social
development and climate change. Hydrological connectivity, a new
framework in hydrology and ecology, has been proposed as the main factor
affecting the ecological processes in coastal wetlands; however, its
role in hydrology–soil–vegetation interactions remains unclear. In
this study, the researchers parametrically quantified the hydrological
connectivity in the tidal marsh wetlands and analyzed its relationship
with Phragmites australis, one of the dominant species in this area. Our
results showed threshold-like effects on the interaction between
hydrological connectivity and P. australis on the plot scale. When
biomass is lower than 2.2 kg/m2, the population density and structure
size were found to increase with hydrological connectivity. When the
biomass is higher than the threshold, the plots disconnected
hydrologically because of high water consumption. Compared with soil
chemistry, salinity, and water soil content, hydrological connectivity
in the surface soil layer is more strongly linked to the plant traits
and spatial structure in the tidal marsh wetlands due to the narrow
ranges of other variables. Based on the authors’ analysis, the
researchers do not recommend dense plantation of P. australis,
especially near the freshwater sources in the tidal marsh, because of
its high reproduction ability and competitive nature, which may cut the
freshwater connectivity off, lowering the richness of plant species and
habitat diversity.