Effects of salinity on dynamics of soil carbon in degraded coastal wetlands: Implications on wetland restoration

To investigate the effects of salinity on dynamics of soil carbon contents and stocks, soil samples were collected at a depth of 30 cm at four sampling sites (Sites B, T, S and P) along a salinity gradient in a drained coastal wetland, the Yellow River Delta, China. The salinity of these four sites ranked in the order: B (8.68 ± 4.25 ms/cm) > T (5.89 ± 3.17 ms/cm) > S (3.19 ± 1.01 ms/cm) > P (2.26 ± 0.39 ms/cm). Soil total carbon (TC), soil organic carbon (SOC), and soil microbial biomass carbon (MBC) were measured. Based on these data, soil organic carbon density (SOCD) and soil microbial biomass carbon density (MBCD) were calculated at four sites. The results showed that the mean concentrations of TC and MBC showed a general deceasing tendency with increasing salinities in the top 30 cm of soils. The values of SOCD and MBCD exhibited similar tendency along the salinity gradient. As for profile distribution pattern, The C/N ratios ranged from 8.28 to 56.51. The microbial quotient values at four sampling sites were quite low, ranging from 0.06 to 0.19. Higher C/N ratios were found in samples with high salinity. Correlation analysis showed that the concentrations of TC and MBC at four sampling sites were significantly negatively correlated with salinity (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05), indicating that salinity could inhibit soil carbon accumulation and microbial activities.