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Journal of Desert Research ›› 2026, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (1): 273-281.DOI: 10.7522/j.issn.1000-694X.2025.00327

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Effects of groundwater level on soil respiration in oasis wetlands

Yangyang Meng1,2(), Zhibin He2(), Bing Liu2, Longfei Chen2, Quanyan Tian2, Lisha Wang2,3   

  1. 1.College of Forestry,Henan Agricultural University,Zhengzhou 450046,China
    2.Linze Inland River Basin Research Station,Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Lanzhou 730000,China
    3.College of Resources,Environment and Tourism,Hubei University of Arts and Sciences,Xiangyang 441053,Hubei,China
  • Received:2025-11-23 Revised:2025-12-23 Online:2026-01-20 Published:2026-03-09
  • Contact: Zhibin He

Abstract:

Exploring the impact mechanism of soil respiration in oasis wetlands under different water level gradients is of great significance for regulating carbon cycling processes and evaluating ecological functions in fragile wetlands. This study takes typical oasis wetlands in the middle reaches of the Heihe River as the research object, setting up three water level gradient zones of high, medium, and low, exploring the dynamic changes in soil respiration rate during the growing season, and analyzing the impact mechanism of soil properties and plant characteristics on soil respiration rate under different water level gradients. The results showed that: (1) The trend of soil respiration rate changes under different water level gradients during the growing season was similar, with the highest in summer and the lowest in spring. (2) With the increase of groundwater level, wetland soil respiration rate, soil microbial biomass carbon, water content, total nitrogen and organic carbon, plant biomass, richness and diversity all significantly increase, soil conductivity significantly decreases, and soil temperature differences between different water level zones are small. (3) The soil respiration in both high and medium water level zones is mainly influenced by soil microbial biomass carbon and temperature, which can explain 79.9% and 80.8% of the variation in soil respiration in the two water level zones, respectively; The low water level zone is mainly influenced by soil microbial biomass carbon and salinity, which can explain 76.8% of the variation in soil respiration. In summary, changes in groundwater levels can alter soil and plant characteristics, thereby affecting soil respiration rates in oasis wetlands.

Key words: water level gradient, soil respiration rate, dynamic changes, impact mechanism, oasis wetland

CLC Number: