Effects of different growth patterns of Tamarix chinensis on saline-alkali soil: implications for coastal restoration and management

Objective: To better understand the wetland restoration, the physicochemical property and microbial community in rhizosphere and bulk soil of the living and death Tamarix chinensis covered soil zones were studied.

Results: There were differences between growth conditions in the levels of soil pH, salinity, SOM, and nutrient. The living status of T. chinensis exhibited higher capacity of decreasing saline-alkali soil than the death condition of plants, and the living T. chinensis showed higher uptake of N, P, and K as compared with the death samples. Proteobacteria, Bacteroidota, and Chloroflexi were the predominant bacterial communities as revealed via high-throughput sequencing.

Conclusions: It is great potential for using halophytes such as T. chinensis to ecological restore the coastal saline-alkali soil. This study could contribute to a better understanding of halophyte growth during the coastal phytoremediation process, and guide theoretically for management of T. chinensis population.