Vegetation dynamics of abandoned paddy fields and surrounding wetlands in the lower Tumen River Basin, Northeast China.

ABSTRACT: On the temperate lowland plain of the lower Tumen River, agricultural development has converted most marshland into paddy fields. However, the locations of old paddy fields in the lowland temperate zone, where the vegetation structure is dominated by herbs adapted to seasonally wet or waterlogged conditions, are poorly known, and the impact of land use history on marshland diversity and shifts in plant functional groups has been scantly researched. In this study, we used a chronosequence approach to investigate herbaceous wetland communities in different recovery phases (<5 years, 5-15 years, and >15 years), as well as natural wetland as a reference. We assessed their ecological characteristics, species composition and diversity to determine how they change during natural succession. Plant

SUBMITTER: Cao G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6459177 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature