Soil Microbial Diversity of Marshes Covered by Suaeda salsa and Spartina alternifora in Yancheng Wetland

The introduction of invasive species, Spartina alternifora, in the tidal marshes of Yancheng wetland has been considered deleterious to habitat quality. However, the extent to which the replacement of Suaeda salsa by S. alternifora affects the soil environment is unknown. In this study, we examined the soil physicochemical characteristics and microbial communities of rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere in soils adjacent to Spartina and Suaeda marshes. The dynamics of microbial community were similar in both the types of plants, and the ischolar_mains were conducive to microbial growth. The total number of microorganisms and microbial activity showed a seasonal fluctuation, increasing from spring through summer and then declining gradually to the lowest in spring. The data provided herein also indicated that values of organic carbon, biomass carbon, size of microbial populations, and activity were higher in Suaeda than in Spartina marsh, which suggests that differences in vegetation cover significantly affect the soil environment and microbial community. Therefore, we suggest that the policy to introduce S. alternifora into this area should be reconsidered.