Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education for Coastal and Wetland Ecosystems, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361102, P.R. China.
State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361102, P.R. China.
Sci Rep. 2017 Nov 17;7(1):15768. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-16122-w.
This paper reports findings about the growth of Spartina alterniflora (Loisel.) near an engineered coastal protection defences to discover the potential influences on vegetation growth from the artificial topography. Impacts of the artificial topography on the sediment element composition were detected by comparing the fixed effects caused by artificial topography and wave exposure using linear mixed models. Surficial sediments under the impacts of artificial topography contain elevated levels of biogenic elements and heavy metals, including C (and organic carbon), N, S, Al, Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, Cr, Ni, and Pb. The results showed that element enrichment caused by artificial topography reduced the vegetation sexual reproduction. Contrary to the potential inhibition caused by direct wave exposure, which was due to the biomass accumulation limit, the inhibition caused by artificial topography was related to the transition of growth strategy. The contents of Cu, Mn, N, Ni, S and As in the sediments were critical in considering the relationship between the change in the sediment element composition and the alteration in the plant growth. Our study emphasizes the importance of rethinking the impacts of coastal development projects, especially regarding the heterogeneity of sediment element composition and its ecological consequences.
本文报告了在人工海岸防护工程附近生长的互花米草（Loisel.）的研究结果，旨在探究人工地形对植被生长的潜在影响。通过使用线性混合模型比较人工地形和波浪暴露引起的固定效应，检测到人工地形对沉积物元素组成的影响。受人工地形影响的表层沉积物中含有较高水平的生物成因元素和重金属，包括 C（和有机碳）、N、S、Al、Fe、Mn、Cu、Zn、As、Cd、Cr、Ni 和 Pb。结果表明，人工地形引起的元素富集降低了植被的有性繁殖。与直接波浪暴露引起的潜在抑制作用（由于生物量积累的限制）相反，人工地形引起的抑制作用与生长策略的转变有关。沉积物中 Cu、Mn、N、Ni、S 和 As 的含量在考虑沉积物元素组成变化与植物生长变化之间的关系时至关重要。本研究强调了重新思考海岸开发项目影响的重要性，特别是在考虑到沉积物元素组成的异质性及其生态后果的情况下。
