To investigate the effects of Spartina alterniflora invasion on soil phosphorus(P) cycling in coastal wetlands, we selected a S. alterniflora zone(SA zone) and mudflat zone(MF zone) in the Jiaozhou Bay as the target areas for the study. The variability of total phosphorus(TP), inorganic phosphorus(IP), and their component contents in wetland soils after S. alterniflora invasion and their influencing factors was evaluated. The results showed that the average contents of TP(472.70 mg·kg-1) and IP(239.00 mg·kg-1) in the soils were significantly higher than those of TP(386.19 mg·kg-1) and IP(212.68 mg·kg-1) in the pre-invasion area, with an increase of 22.40% and 12.38%, respectively. The IP fractions in the study area were dominated by calcium-phosphorus(Ca-P) and iron-phosphorus(Fe-P), accounting for 45%-61% and 31%-49% of IP, respectively. The Ca-P content of the soil in the 10-30 cm layer decreased significantly(P<0.05) after S. alterniflora invasion, which was especially significant in July. The Fe-P content increased significantly(P<0.05); in the 0-40 cm soil layer, Fe-P was higher than that in the 40-60 cm layer(P<0.05), and showed significant enrichment in the 10-40 cm soil in July. The structural equation model showed that organic matter(OM) had a significant positive effect on TP and Fe-P after S. alterniflora invasion(P<0.01), and the normalized path coefficients were 0.775 and 0.724, respectively. Fe-P had a significant negative effect on Ca-P after invasion(P<0.01) with a normalised throughput coefficient of -0.435. The study found that S. alterniflora invasion generally increased wetland soil P content, while promoting the conversion of Ca-P to Fe-P, improving wetland P bioavailability.
Keywords: Jiaozhou Bay; Spartina alterniflora; inorganic phosphorus component; phosphorus; structural equation model.