Changes of Soil Carbon Driven by Soil Water and Carbon Fixing Microbe under Different Wetland Use in Songnen Plain, China
摘要
Elucidating the impacts of wetland use changes on soil carbon (C) storage will contribute to C management strategies and maintaining the global C balance. We quantified soil total carbon (TC) content across various wetland-use types including primitive wetland, degraded wetland, paddy field, dryland field, as well as restored wetland from paddy and dryland field in the Songnen Plain, China. The results indicated that primitive wetland and paddy field exhibited elevated soil TC, which was attributable to their higher soil water content. Primitive wetland soil showed the highest C fixing microbial abundance and RubisCO activity due to its highest water content and lowest bulk density. These findings underscores the importance of hydrological restoration in enhancing the soil C fixing capacity of degraded and reclaimed wetlands. Variations in soil water content, C fixing microbial abundance and RubisCO activity positively explained soil TC variation across different wetland use. Redundancy analysis (RDA) revealed that soil electrical conductivity and TC were the predominant factors in influencing microbial abundance, while soil microbial biomass nitrogen and carbon storage primarily influenced enzyme activity. These results not only illustrate the driving mechanism underlying soil C sink function following wetland use changes, but also provide a scientific basis for enhancing soil C sequestration and promoting sustainable wetland utilization through hydrological restoration.