Abstract
Abstract The complex interplay between soil moisture and salinity governs vegetation dynamics in estuarine salt marshes, yet a quantitative understanding of these relationships remains limited. This study introduces an integrated modeling framework coupling water‐salt transport with a spatially explicit vegetation model to investigate community responses to hydrological fluctuations in a typical estuary salt marsh in China. The model simulates spatial patterns, biomass dynamics, and interspecific competition for four dominant species from 2013 to 2021. In response to soil moisture and salinity fluctuations driven by interannual variations in Yellow River discharge, the results revealed distinct species‐specific responses. Phragmites australis exhibited a biomass decline (from 8.951 to 8.182 × 10 7 kg) with a stable distribution, indicating physiological stress. Tamarix chinensis maintained a stable biomass (about 1.94 × 10 7 kg) despite a shrinking distribution, suggesting concentration into optimal microsites. Suaeda salsa showed resilience, with its biomass fluctuating before recovering to 11.802 × 10 7 kg in 2021. The invasive Spartina alterniflora demonstrated a biomass increase (from 9.682 to 10.139 × 10 7 kg) even as its range contracted post‐2018, likely due to increased density in remaining patches. The model identified a community shift from stability (2013–2017) to restructuring (2018–2021), driven by increased freshwater input. Across all species, biomass changes preceded distributional shifts, highlighting biomass as a more sensitive indicator of environmental stress. These findings suggest that moderate freshwater inputs can enhance native species' competitiveness and provide quantitative insights for managing salt marsh ecosystems under changing hydrological regimes.
Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record; open copy licensed cc-by. Read at the source ↗
The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.
Claims 10
Claim · model-written summary
Phragmites australis biomass declined from 8.951 to 8.182 × 10 7 kg in the simulation.
- Taxon
- Phragmites australis
Phragmites australise0 - Outcome
- biomasse0
- Direction
- declinee0
- Value
- from 8.951 to 8.182 × 10 7 kge0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Phragmites australis exhibited a biomass decline (from 8.951 to 8.182 × 10 7 kg) with a stable distribution, indicating physiological stress”
Claim · model-written summary
Phragmites australis kept a stable distribution in the simulation.
- Taxon
- Phragmites australisPhragmites australise0
- Outcome
- distributione0
- Direction
- stablee0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Phragmites australis exhibited a biomass decline (from 8.951 to 8.182 × 10 7 kg) with a stable distribution, indicating physiological stress”
Claim · model-written summary
Tamarix chinensis maintained a stable biomass of about 1.94 × 10 7 kg in the simulation.
- Taxon
- Tamarix chinensis
Tamarix chinensise1 - Outcome
- biomasse1
- Value
- about 1.94 × 10 7 kge1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Tamarix chinensis maintained a stable biomass (about 1.94 × 10 7 kg) despite a shrinking distribution, suggesting concentration into optimal microsites”
Claim · model-written summary
Tamarix chinensis had a shrinking distribution in the simulation.
- Taxon
- Tamarix chinensisTamarix chinensise1
- Outcome
- distributione1
- Direction
- shrinkinge1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Tamarix chinensis maintained a stable biomass (about 1.94 × 10 7 kg) despite a shrinking distribution, suggesting concentration into optimal microsites”
Claim · model-written summary
Suaeda salsa biomass recovered to 11.802 × 10 7 kg in 2021 after fluctuating.
- Taxon
- Suaeda salsa
Suaeda salsae2 - Outcome
- biomasse2
- Direction
- recoveringe2
- Value
- 11.802 × 10 7 kge2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e2“Suaeda salsa showed resilience, with its biomass fluctuating before recovering to 11.802 × 10 7 kg in 2021”
Claim · model-written summary
Spartina alterniflora biomass increased from 9.682 to 10.139 × 10 7 kg in the simulation.
- Taxon
- Spartina alterniflora
Sporobolus alternifloruse3 - Outcome
- biomasse3
- Direction
- increasee3
- Value
- from 9.682 to 10.139 × 10 7 kge3
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e3“The invasive Spartina alterniflora demonstrated a biomass increase (from 9.682 to 10.139 × 10 7 kg) even as its range contracted post‐2018”
Claim · model-written summary
Spartina alterniflora range contracted after 2018.
- Taxon
- Spartina alternifloraSporobolus alternifloruse3
- Outcome
- rangee3
- Direction
- contractede3
- Qualifier
- post‐2018e3
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e3“The invasive Spartina alterniflora demonstrated a biomass increase (from 9.682 to 10.139 × 10 7 kg) even as its range contracted post‐2018”
Claim · model-written summary
The salt marsh vegetation community shifted from stability to restructuring, driven by increased freshwater input.
Not reportedDirection
Verbatim
t0“Salt Marsh Vegetation Communities”
e5“The model identified a community shift from stability (2013–2017) to restructuring (2018–2021), driven by increased freshwater input”
Claim · model-written summary
Biomass changes preceded distributional shifts across all salt marsh species.
Verbatim
t0“Salt Marsh Vegetation Communities”
e4“Across all species, biomass changes preceded distributional shifts, highlighting biomass as a more sensitive indicator of environmental stress”
Claim · model-written summary
Moderate freshwater inputs may enhance the competitiveness of native species.
Verbatim
e6“moderate freshwater inputs can enhance native species' competitiveness”