Dam inundation reduces ecosystem multifunctionality following riparian afforestation in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region

Jie Zheng; Muhammad Arif; Lijuan Li; Xinrui He; Yuanyuan Wu; Wenqiu Cao; Peixuan Yan; Changxiao Li

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.121188

Dam inundation reduces ecosystem multifunctionality following riparian afforestation in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region

J Environ Manage. 2024 May 16:360:121188. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.121188. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Jie Zheng¹, Muhammad Arif², Lijuan Li³, Xinrui He⁴, Yuanyuan Wu⁵, Wenqiu Cao⁶, Peixuan Yan⁷, Changxiao Li⁸

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Eco-environments in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region (Ministry of Education), Chongqing Key Laboratory of Plant Ecology and Resources Research in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China; Biological Science Research Center, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China. Electronic address: jiezheng@email.swu.edu.cn.
² Key Laboratory of Eco-environments in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region (Ministry of Education), Chongqing Key Laboratory of Plant Ecology and Resources Research in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China; Biological Science Research Center, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China. Electronic address: muhammadarif@swu.edu.cn.
³ Key Laboratory of Eco-environments in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region (Ministry of Education), Chongqing Key Laboratory of Plant Ecology and Resources Research in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China. Electronic address: zxc124487991@email.swu.edu.cn.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Eco-environments in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region (Ministry of Education), Chongqing Key Laboratory of Plant Ecology and Resources Research in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China. Electronic address: hxr2018@email.swu.edu.cn.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Eco-environments in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region (Ministry of Education), Chongqing Key Laboratory of Plant Ecology and Resources Research in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China. Electronic address: wyy521@email.swu.edu.cn.
⁶ Key Laboratory of Eco-environments in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region (Ministry of Education), Chongqing Key Laboratory of Plant Ecology and Resources Research in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China. Electronic address: cwq1004@email.swu.edu.cn.
⁷ Key Laboratory of Eco-environments in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region (Ministry of Education), Chongqing Key Laboratory of Plant Ecology and Resources Research in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China. Electronic address: ypx211202@email.swu.edu.cn.
⁸ Key Laboratory of Eco-environments in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region (Ministry of Education), Chongqing Key Laboratory of Plant Ecology and Resources Research in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China; Biological Science Research Center, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China. Electronic address: lichangx@swu.edu.cn.

PMID: 38759556
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.121188

Abstract

Afforestation is an acknowledged method for rehabilitating deteriorated riparian ecosystems, presenting multiple functions to alleviate the repercussions of river damming and climate change. However, how ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF) responds to inundation in riparian afforestation ecosystems remains relatively unexplored. Thus, this article aimed to disclose how EMF alters with varying inundation intensities and to elucidate the key drivers of this variation based on riparian reforestation experiments in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region in China. Our EMF analysis encompassed wood production, carbon storage, nutrient cycling, decomposition, and water regulation under different inundation intensities. We examined their correlation with soil properties and microbial diversity. The results indicated a substantial reduction in EMF with heightened inundation intensity, which was primarily due to the decline in most individual functions. Notably, soil bacterial diversity (23.02%), soil properties such as oxidation-reduction potential (ORP, 11.75%), and temperature (5.85%) emerged as pivotal variables elucidating EMF changes under varying inundation intensities. Soil bacterial diversity and ORP declined as inundation intensified but were positively associated with EMF. In contrast, soil temperature rose with increased inundation intensity and exhibited a negative correlation with EMF. Further insights gleaned from structural equation modeling revealed that inundation reduced EMF directly and indirectly by reducing soil ORP and bacterial diversity and increasing soil temperature. This work underscores the adverse effects of dam inundation on riparian EMF and the crucial role soil characteristics and microbial diversity play in mediating EMF in response to inundation. These insights are pivotal for the conservation of biodiversity and functioning following afforestation in dam-induced riparian habitats.

Keywords: Ecosystem functions; Inundation intensities; Soil bacterial diversity; Three Gorges dam.