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Comparison of Carbon Sequestration Ability and Effect of Elevation in Fenced Wetland Plant Communities of the Xilin River Floodplains: A Model Case Study
Author(s) -
Liu Y.,
Wang L.,
Liu H.,
Wang W.,
Liang C.,
Yang J.,
Verhoeven J. T. A.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
river research and applications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.679
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1535-1467
pISSN - 1535-1459
DOI - 10.1002/rra.2777
Subject(s) - wetland , floodplain , elevation (ballistics) , environmental science , fencing , hydrology (agriculture) , biomass (ecology) , carbon sequestration , habitat , ecology , geology , carbon dioxide , biology , geometry , mathematics , geotechnical engineering , parallel computing , computer science
Floodplain habitats of the Xilin River in Inner Mongolia, China, were overgrazed by sheep and cattle until fencing of the floodplains was implemented in 2000. Carbon cycling of three plant communities of differing floodplain elevation after fencing showed that biomass in low‐elevation wetlands increased fastest until reaching its maximum at 20 years in the future, while a slower increase in biomass existed in high‐elevation and ‘hummock’ wetlands. Modelling and field experiments revealed differences between the three plant communities that were primarily attributed to different elevation levels and inundation periods. This study also determined the carbon sequestration capacity of the three floodplain wetland types (0.18 kg C m −2 year −1 in low‐elevation wetlands, 0.09 kg C m −2 year −1 in high‐elevation wetlands, and 0.05 kg C m −2 year −1 in hummock wetlands). Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.