Study on the vegetation, soil factors, and microbial characteristics of wetland meadows in Xundian County of Yunnan Province

The vegetation, soil factors, and microbial characteristics of six wetland meadows in Xundian County, Yunnan Province, were examined in this study to provide scientific data and a theoretical basis for wetland protection and utilization. The findings revealed the presence of 53 plants species in 24 families and 43 genera in the reserve. The vegetation community height, coverage, density, aboveground biomass, diversity Simpson index, Shannon-Wiener index, Pielou index, soil urease, sucrase, catalase, protease, organic matter, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, total potassium, pH, and Margalef diversity index differed significantly for soil bacteria, actinomycetes, fungi, and soil microorganisms in different plots (P < 0.05). The Shannon-Wiener index and Pielou index of vegetation diversity were positively correlated with soil urease and sucrase activities, respectively (P < 0.05), but negatively correlated with catalase activities. The number of bacteria and actinomycetes in soil is negatively correlated with the Margalef index of microbial diversity (P < 0.01) but positively correlated with the number of fungi (P < 0.05). The findings demonstrate that the vegetation in Xundian Nature Reserve is short and its soil nutrient (total nitrogen, total phosphorus, total potassium, and organic matter) levels are low, indicating that the soil is acidic. Soil urease and sucrase activities were higher, while catalase and protease activities were lower, in comparison to Poyang Lake (wetlands of 7 typical plant communities, including Persicaria hydropiper, Typha orientalis, Carex cinerascens, etc.), Sanjiang Plain (Carex lasiocarpa, Calamagrostis angustifolia and island forest wetlands), and the Warm temperate wetlands in the middle reaches of the Yellow River in Heyang, Shanxi Province. The number of soil microbial colonies showed a trend of bacteria > actinomycetes > fungi.