Effects of Hydrological Connectivity on Snail Assemblages in the Intertidal Zone of Coastal Wetlands
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WETLANDS RESTORATION
Effects of Hydrological Connectivity on Snail Assemblages in the Intertidal Zone of Coastal Wetlands Haitao Wu 1
&
Qiang Guan 1,2 & Kangle Lu 1,2 & Guangxuan Han 3 & Baoquan Li 3 & Mengyao Yang 1
Received: 26 April 2019 / Accepted: 22 October 2019 # Society of Wetland Scientists 2019
Abstract Hydrological connectivity controls the patterns of invertebrate assemblages in wetland ecosystems. With degradation of intertidal wetlands, artificial freshwater release has become an important restoration technique. Hydrological connectivity with tidal creeks is also a key ecological process for intertidal wetlands. However, how hydrologic connectivity affects snail assemblages remains poorly investigated in intertidal wetlands. We studied the differences in snail assemblages in wetlands to understand the effects of hydrological connectivity, wetland to river, and wetland to ocean. We found freshwater connectivity can transform intertidal snail assemblages into freshwater snail assemblages; restored wetlands primarily had freshwater snail species and natural intertidal wetlands mainly supported marine or salt-adapted snail species. Cluster analysis, nMDS plot and ANOSIM analysis showed snail assemblages were influenced strongly by hydrological connectivity. Stenothyra glabra, Oncomelania sp. and Nassarius festivus were indicators of natural intertidal wetlands. Hippeutis cantori, Radix swinhoei and Succinea pfeifferi were indicators of restored wetlands. Our results suggest natural hydrological connectivity with the ocean needs to be maintained when attempting to restore intertidal wetlands. Without this connection, connecting impaired wetlands only to rivers, may not achieve restoration of natural biotic assemblages. Keywords Aquatic invertebrates . Community similarity . Indicator species . Wetland management
Introduction Ecological studies on hydrological connectivity routinely seek to understand the connections between bodies of water and the factors that influence those connections (Fullerton et al. 2010).
In freshwater ecosystems, hydrological connectivity is known to influence biogeochemical fluxes (Hosen et al. 2018; Thom et al. 2018), food-web structure (Reid et al. 2012), macroinvertebrate assemblages (Reese and Batzer 2007; Leigh and Sheldon 2009; Paillex et al. 2009; Guan et al. 2017),
Highlights of this study •Natural hydrological connectivity with the ocean needs to be maintained when attempting to restore intertidal wetlands. •Freshwater release may not achieve restoration of natural biotic assemblages. •Snail assemblages may serve as a robust and rapid metric to assess hydrology connectivity of coastal wetlands. * Haitao Wu [email protected] Qiang Guan [email protected]
Mengyao Yang [email protected]
1
Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Environment, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 4888 Shengbei Street, Changchun, Jilin, China
Guangxuan Han [email protected]
2
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100
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