Multifunctionality and maintenance mechanism of wetland ecosystems in the littoral zone of the northern semi-arid region lake driven by environmental factors

Xin Kou; Huamin Liu; Han Chen; Zhichao Xu; Xiaowen Yu; Xiaoai Cao; Dongwei Liu; Lu Wen; Yi Zhuo; Lixin Wang

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.161956

Multifunctionality and maintenance mechanism of wetland ecosystems in the littoral zone of the northern semi-arid region lake driven by environmental factors

Sci Total Environ. 2023 Apr 20:870:161956. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.161956. Epub 2023 Feb 1.

Authors

Xin Kou¹, Huamin Liu¹, Han Chen², Zhichao Xu¹, Xiaowen Yu¹, Xiaoai Cao¹, Dongwei Liu¹, Lu Wen¹, Yi Zhuo¹, Lixin Wang³

Affiliations

¹ School of Ecology and Environment, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, China.
² School of Business Administration and Humanities, Mongolian University of Science & Technology, Ulaanbaatar 46/520, Mongolia.
³ School of Ecology and Environment, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, China; Collaborative Innovation Center for Grassland Ecological Security (Jointly Supported by the Ministry of Education of China and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region), Hohhot 010021, China; Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Ecology and Resource Use of the Mongolian Plateau, Hohhot 010021, China. Electronic address: Lxwang@imu.edu.cn.

PMID: 36737024
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.161956

Abstract

The relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem multifunctionality (BEMF) has become an ecological research hot spot in recent years. Changes in biodiversity are non-randomly distributed in space and time in natural ecosystems, and the BEMF relationship is affected by a combination of biotic and abiotic factors. These complex, uncertain relationships are affected by research scale and quantification and measurement indicators. This paper took the Daihai littoral zone wetlands in Inner Mongolia as the research object to reveal the dynamic succession of wetland vegetation and ecosystem function change characteristics and processes during the shrinkage of the lake. The main findings were as follows: the combined effect of aboveground (species and functions) and belowground (bacteria and fungi) diversity was greater than the effect of single components on ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF) (R² = 80.00 %). Soil salinity (EC) had a direct negative effect on EMF (λ = -0.22), and soil moisture (SM) had a direct positive effect on EMF (λ = 0.19). The results of the hierarchical partitioning analysis showed that plant species richness (Margalef index) was the ideal indicator to explain the EMF and C, N, and P cycling functions in littoral zone wetlands with explanations of 12.25 %, 7.31 %, 7.83 %, and 5.33 %, respectively. The EMF and C and P cycles were mainly affected by bacterial diversity, and the N cycle was mainly affected by fungal abundance in belowground biodiversity. Margalef index and sand content affected EMF through cascading effects of multiple nutrients (FDis, CWM_RV, CWM_LCC, and bacterial and fungal abundance and diversity) in littoral zone wetlands. This paper provides a reference for exploring the multifunctionality maintenance mechanisms of natural littoral zone wetland ecosystems in the context of global change, and it also provides important theoretical support and basic data for the implementation of ecological restoration in Daihai lake.

Keywords: Biodiversity; Ecosystem multifunctionality; Littoral zone wetlands; Plant functional traits; Water and salt gradients.

MeSH terms

Bacteria
Biodiversity
Ecosystem*
Lakes
Soil
Wetlands*

Substances

Soil