Evolution of biodiversity in the Doulonggang estuary coastal wetland, Yancheng, China

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1000-5641.2026.03.011

Abstract

Abstract:

Coastal wetlands play an important role in the ecosystem. However, human activities such as pond aquaculture can alter their landscape patterns and biodiversity in the ecosystems. Environmental DNA (eDNA) technology can effectively reconstruct past biological communities and evaluate changes in biodiversity. In the present study, a sediment core was obtained from a wetland at the Doulonggang estuary in Yancheng, Jiangsu Province. By analyzing eDNA in the sediments and historical remote sensing images, in addition to performing ²¹⁰Pb dating, the present study comprehensively explored how land use change affected biodiversity in the 2008–2023 period. ²¹⁰Pb dating and historical remote sensing data showed that the sedimentary records included three phases of land use, including natural wetland (2008–2015), aquaculture ponds (2015–2019), and wetland restoration (2019–2023). eDNA in the sediments indicated that in the natural wetland phase, terrestrial herbaceous plants (26.69%~37.90%) and a brackish water community prevailed. In the aquaculture pond phase, the proportions of aquatic arthropods (such as Calanoida) and algae surged sharply, reflecting the ecological simplification caused by the artificial aquaculture system. In the wetland restoration phase, the proportion of diatoms (Bacillariophyta) increased to 89.04%, and the terrestrial herbs recovered gradually, indicating ecosystem restoration. The α-diversity index further confirmed that species diversity and evenness were the lowest when the area became an aquaculture pond in 2015 and then recovered gradually. The Bray-Curtis similarity index showed that there were significant differences in the biological composition among the three phases, with the main difference attributed to the proportion of diatoms. Therefore, this study shows that the ecological restoration project has enabled the wetland biological composition at the Doulonggang estuary to recover toward a natural wetland state. However, restoration of the ecosystem lags behind the landscape change, and long-term monitoring is necessary to promote the complete ecological restoration of the wetland. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the dynamic change process of coastal wetland ecosystems under the interference of human activities and provides a scientific basis for ecological restoration and management of tidal flat wetlands.

Key words: coastal wetland, environmental DNA, land use, biodiversity, reclamation, ecological restoration

CLC Number:

P941.78

Haixia WEN, Qing HU, Zhanghua WANG, Xiaolin MA. Evolution of biodiversity in the Doulonggang estuary coastal wetland, Yancheng, China[J]. J* E* C* N* U* N* S*, 2026, 2026(3): 134-147.

Figures/Tables 8

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样品编号 (3个重复汇总)	原始测序通量 (reads)	质控后数据量 (reads)	去除人源序列后数据量 (reads)
0~10 cm	142 251 082	141 765 390	123 901 256
20~30 cm	149 629 618	149 052 114	141 131 252
40~50 cm	135 405 574	134 873 814	125 164 006
60~70 cm	139 971 224	136 411 896	129 984 496
80~90 cm	134 638 828	134 067 426	126 155 660
100~110 cm	138 414 680	137 817 074	130 227 604
120~130 cm	122 898 662	120 845 890	107 037 452
140~150 cm	131 705 044	131 287 486	113 948 362
160~170 cm	125 817 832	125 379 490	109 517 676
180~190 cm	127 411 928	126 922 724	113 297 860

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