Weiqing Meng

• Tianjin Normal University

Microplastics, as emerging contaminants, pose a serious threat to terrestrial ecosystems, yet their impact on plant communities remains largely unexplored. This study utilized the soil seed bank to establish naturally germinated plant communities and investigated the effects of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) on community characteristics....

The increase in alien plant invasions poses a major threat to global biodiversity and ecosystem stability. However, the presence of microplastics (MPs) as an environmental stressor could impact the interactions between invasive and native species in an invasive plant community. Nevertheless, the community alterations and underlying mechanisms resul...

It is thought remediating cadmium pollution with biochar can affect plant traits. However, the potential impact of this practice on plant communities is poorly understood. Here, we established natural-germinated plant communities using soil seed bank from a saline-alkaline wetland and applied a biochar treatment in Cd-polluted wetland soil. The out...

In recent years, due to rapid economic development, the Bohai Rim has become a focus of attention. The area has abundant waterbird resources, however, the coastal wetlands in the Bohai Rim are currently under serious threat and waterbird conservation needs to be addressed urgently. Exploring the changes and main driving factors of waterbirds and co...

Because of geographical position and high carbon storage potential, coastal salt marshes are recognized as an essential component of blue carbon and play an indispensable role in regulating climate and reaching carbon neutrality targets. Nonetheless, accurately mapping salt marsh carbon stock on a regional scale remains challenging. The framework o...

In order to provide more scientific guidance for wetland bird protection, this study addressed the dynamics of the bird community sorted by ecotypes, classifications and threat categories from 2015 to 2019, and non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis, generalized additive models and the Mantel test were used to examine the relationships betwee...

Understanding the spatial distribution pattern change and driving factors behind ecosystem health is essential to ecosystem management and restoration. However, in the research of regional ecosystem health, there is little research on ecosystem health in coastal regions, and there is little exploration of its temporal and spatial pattern change and...

Vegetation sequester and store carbon in their tissue, at the same time, vegetation plantation and maintenance practice release carbon back to the atmosphere based on energy-resource consumption and labors input. However, existing studies have not yet provided an exhaustive calculation of carbon balance for China from vegetation type. Thus, account...

Maintaining carbon sequestration is becoming increasingly significant and challenging during coastal wetland carbon restoration. To clear the influence of water, nitrogen and salinity on soil organic carbon (SOC), indoor incubation experiments were carried out, where soil from wetlands with dominant vegetation of Phragmites australis and Suaeda sal...

The beach tourism resources of China are abundant with long coastline and many seawater bathing beaches. However, the natural quality of seawater bathing beach resources in China is uneven, and there are many differences in the degree of development, facilities, and management levels. The scientific evaluation of the quality of seawater bathing bea...

Purpose The purposes of this study were to analyse the spatiotemporal variations in greenhouse gas diffusive fluxes at the sediment–water interface of sewage-draining rivers and natural rivers, and investigate the factors responsible for the changes in greenhouse gas diffusive fluxes. Materials and methods Greenhouse gas diffusive fluxes at the se...

Dissolved concentrations, saturation status, and emission fluxes of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in two reclamation mariculture ponds in the Bohai Gulf, China, were measured using the static headspace gas chromatography method and computed using a two-layer model of diffusive gas exchange. The study was conducted during August 2016 to assess diurnal var...

Smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) was introduced to China in December 1979 to buffer against tides and to accelerate coastal wetland accretion. Since then, its propagation and natural dispersal have allowed this exotic plant to rapidly expand throughout coastal China with generally negative ecological effects. In 2003 S. alterniflora was lab...

Existing methods for the sustainability assessment of industrial production processes have considered the values of natural resource use and ecosystem services. However, these methods mainly focus on monetary measures of natural capital cost and ignore some other costs, including human health effects, biodiversity loss and indirect exergy consumpti...

For the environmental efficiency assessment of the plant nursery production system, the total CO2 eq emissions of 18 nurseries in China was calculated using the LCA “from cradle to gate” approach. The analysis revealed that the GHG emissions of potted plant production were higher than those of field-grown nurseries. The CO2 eq emissions were variab...

Coastal wetland losses in China are globally-relevant issues, as formerly sequestered soil organic carbon is released as CO 2 into the atmosphere. Wetland losses also reduce the primary production by plants that would otherwise bury carbon in the future. More than 50% of these ecosystems have been lost globally over the last half century, with this...

When applying the landscape connectivity method to study landscape pattern changes, choosing the appropriate distance threshold is the key. By using the Landsat 8-OLI remote sensing image interpretation data of wetland in Tianjin Binhai New Area in 2017, this paper aims to screen the most proper connection threshold of wetland landscape in the stud...

Under the background of the coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, promoting the integration of ecological environment is a meaningful way to solve the problems of regional environment and strengthen regional ecological protection, and it is also a critical support and guarantee for the regional coordinated development. This paper a...

Carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) concentration, saturation and fluxes in rivers (Beitang drainage river, Dagu drainage rive, Duliujianhe river, Yongdingxinhe river and Nanyunhe river) of Tianjin city (Haihe watershed) were investigated during July and October in 2014, and January and April in 2015 by static headspace gas...

The total area of wetlands in China is 53.42 × 10⁶ ha, accounting for 10% of global wetlands and 5.58% of China's territorial area. Wetlands in China are constantly under serious threat from multiple influencing factors. A large number of wetlands have been destroyed and degraded since the 1950s. During past decades, China has already recognized th...

Coastal reclamation is the gain of land from the sea or coastal wetlands for agricultural purposes, industrial use or port expansions. Large-scale coastal land reclamation can have adverse effects on the coastal environment, including loss of marine habitats and deterioration of coastal water quality. In recent decades, coastal land reclamation has...

The aim of the study was to investigate heavy metals concentrations in wheat field soils of Tianjin sewage irrigation region, and evaluate the potential ecological risk of heavy metals pollution. ICP-OES was employed to analyze the heavy metals concentrations in wheat field soils of Tianjin sewage-irrigation region. The grading standard of Tianjin...

Understanding the differences and diurnal variations of soil respiration in different vegetation communities in coastal wetland is to provide basic reliable scientific evidence for the carbon "source" function of wetland ecosystems in Tianjin.Measured soil respiration rate which changed during a day between two typical vegetation communities (Phrag...

Soil seed bank (SSB) is considered as an important way of vegetation restoration, it can fleetly achieved vegetation diversification and the course of succession when the topsoil mixed with planting substrates. In this paper, a greenhouse germination method was used to explore the effect on germination characteristic of soil seed bank by adding dif...

Due to the constraints of freshwater for agricultural irrigation, sewage water has been used in farmland irrigation as an important supplement and alternative water resources during the past three decades in China, especially in northern areas. However, there is increasing concern about food safety and health risks, hence, a case study was undertak...

Under the background of greenhouse gases emission reduction, the measurement of carbon emissions from the tourism industry has attracted increasing academic attention. Tourism is not a traditional sector in the System of National Accounts, and as a result the statistics of carbon dioxide emissions of the tourism industry on a national scale is diff...

Aims: Considered as an essential measure in the application of soil seed bank (SSB) projects, the mixing of substrate and surface soil can effectively improve soil condition. This research is aimed at exploring the diversity characteristics of SSBs and the relationships between SSBs and soil properties. Methods: Canonical correspondence analysis...

Soil properties for CCA and linear multivariate regression. (XLSX)

Data of Shannon-Wiener index, Pielou index and Simpson index. (XLSX)

The aims of this paper were to investigate heavy metals concentrations in urban street dust of Tianjin, examine spatial variations of heavy metals pollution, and to assess their health risk to local populations. Urban street dust samples were collected from 144 typical crossroads in urban area of Tianjin. Levels of heavy metals were determined by a...

Land-use change reflects the relationship between human activities and environmental processes over time and space. Modeling land-use change dynamics is of particular environmental, social, and economic importance at regional scales. This paper develops a new approach to model land-use changes by making use of multiple categories that incorporate s...

Samples from typical coastal saline wetlands were selected for soil germination experiment. Meanwhile, the soil physicochemical properties were determined. The relationship between soil seed bank (SSB) and soil characteristic factors were studied by using CCA ordination ( canonical correspondence analysis). The results showed that the reserves of S...

Coastal wetlands are the main natural ecosystem type and provide important ecosystem services. During the past thirty years, wetlands had experienced increasing pressures from occupation and degradation with coastal economic activities in Tianjin. A large amount of natural wetland had been changed into artificial wetland, and rivers had been seriou...

The project used the Tanggu alkali-slag wasteland in Tianjin as a case-study of ecological restoration engineering project, researched the characteristic of alkali-slag and status of the unproductive land, manufactured the alkali slag soil to fill the low-lying-land, covered with exogenous planting soil and planted artificial vegetation which domin...

In order to study the characteristic of soil seed band (SSB) in different urbanized regions of Tianjin, the research selected typical samples along urban districts, suburban districts, outer suburbs. After the germination tests, the results show that: from outer suburbs to urban districts,the density of SSB show an increasing trend, Sorensen Simila...

Samples of surface dust were collected from 41 representative urban parks in Tianjin. The health risk of heavy metals in surface dust was evaluated using human health risk assessment model established by U. S. EPA. The results showed that the pollution of heavy metals was serious. The average concentrations of Cu, Pb, Cr, Cd and Ni in the samples w...

Land use change can have a strong impact on soil carbon dynamics and carbon stocks in urban areas. Due to rapid urbanization, large areas of land have been paved, and other areas have undergone rapid land use change. Evaluation of the impact of urbanization on carbon dynamics and carbon stock (30 cm) has become an issue of urgent concern. The soil...

Land subsidence, a major geological hazard in Tianjin, has caused serious losses. In this research, we established a numerical model to predict potential land subsidence caused by groundwater overdraft in the next decades. The model set three groundwater extraction scenarios, corresponding to (1) current rate, (2) 2 % decrease, and (3) South-to-Nor...

Dust and soil samples were taken from 41 parks in inner-city of Tianjin and 10 parks in Tianjin Binhai New Area to study the physicochemical properties and contents of heavy metals in the samples, with the special distribution patterns and possible sources of the heavy metals analyzed. In the parks, the particle sizes of dusts and soils presented b...

Field survey and laboratory experiment were conducted to study the characteristics of soil seed banks (SSBs) in typical Saline-alkali wetlands in Tianjin Binhai New Area. The composition, diversity and temporal and spatial distribution of SSBs in three sampling plots were analyzed. The results show that there are 26 species in the SSBs, with specie...

As a representative of areas with rapid urban sprawl and large-scale reclamation, the West Bohai Bay in Binhai New Area of Tianjin was selected to analyze the ecological influence of marine reclamation in two scales, in the macroscopical scale of landscape change and spatial-temporal evolution, in the microcosmic scale of eco-environmental change o...

As a case study of the project of "Ecological Restoration of Hutuo River in Shijiazhuang City", the paper illuminates the Green for Water model to the problem that urban dry rivers management. While meeting ecological water requirement, managing and modulating water resource rationally, the paper proposed the model of "Green Hutuo" of restoring nat...

The marine economical development, environmental problems and social conditions were analyzed in this paper from the aspect of sustainable development. With rapid economic development in this area, the problem of resource shortage and environmental pollution gradually appeared in recent years, measurements should be taken to protect the resource an...

There will be different stable states or attractors in ecosystem under the same external conditions. In this paper, one stochastic logistic model under external fluctuations was established. The existence of the alternative attractors and regime shift are investigated. Also, the mean first passage time is studied using stochastic dynamics theory. R...

This study presents a quantitative and ecological benefit evaluation of the Baiyangdian wetland in China between the years 2000 and 2006. Methods of EMERGY analysis were applied to illustrate the wetland ecosystem, to evaluate the economic and environmental inputs and consequent yields, and to assess the sustainability of the Baiyangdian wetland. T...

This study collecting the monitoring data for surface water quality and economic development data of Tianjin, and analyzed the water quality according to national water environmental quality standards between 1998 and 2008, it is found that Hai River and other main rivers were polluted badly except Yuqiao Reservior which is only drinking source wat...

In recent years, research on the connection between plant community and soil factors have become the hot pot because of its important ecological significance. Most of the studies focused on mountainous Districts and forests, little has been conducted on wetlands. The wetlands of Binhai New District were studied in this paper because of its unique e...

Calorific value reflects the utilization efficiency of solar energy by plants, and also, is an important parameter about the conversion of solar energy into biomass and for energy flow analysis. In the meanwhile, it is an important basis in explaining the adaptability of plant populations. The change patterns of the calorific values of eight domina...