作者：Tan, Z., Lin, Y., Gong, L., Yao, J., Li, Y., Wang, X., Li, X. & Cai, Y.

Wetlands, though covering only 2% of the Earth's surface, store over 20% of global organic carbon, making them vital reservoirs in the global carbon cycle. Despite this significance, the role of hydrological connectivity in wetland vegetation carbon storage remains poorly understood. This study addresses this gap by quantitatively assessing the impact of hydrological connectivity on wetland vegetation carbon sequestration in Poyang Lake, China's largest freshwater lake, based on multi-source remote sensing data fusion. It reveals that total carbon storage in Poyang Lake increased from 2000 to 2020 at a rate of 0.09 Tg/year, with a more pronounced rise after the Three Gorges Dam began operation. Hydrological connectivity explained 73% variation in vegetation carbon storage, with connectivity functions (CFs, defined as the probability of water connection between surface units as a function of distance and direction) during the receding period having the most significant impact, and near-distance CFs contributing more to carbon sequestration than middle- and far-distance CFs. Additionally, enhancing hydrological connectivity does not necessarily result in higher carbon sequestration, as low-connected seasonal isolated lakes (SILs) sequestered up to 2,051.18 g C/m2/year, exceeding the 1,593.75 g C/m2/year in high-connected SILs. These findings challenge conventional understanding and offer actionable insights for optimizing wetland management strategies aimed at enhancing carbon sequestration, particularly through targeted hydrological regulation.

湿地仅覆盖地球表面的2%，却储存了全球20%以上的有机碳，是全球碳循环中至关重要的碳库。尽管如此，水文连通性在湿地植被碳储存中的作用仍不清楚。本研究通过多源遥感数据融合，定量评估了水文连通性对中国最大淡水湖——鄱阳湖湿地植被碳固存的影响。结果显示，2000年至2020年间，鄱阳湖总碳储量以0.09 Tg/年的速率增加，三峡大坝运行后增幅更为显著。水文连通性解释了植被碳储量73%的变异，其中退水期的连通函数（CFs，定义为地表单元间水连接概率随距离和方向变化的函数）影响最大，近距连通函数对碳固存的贡献高于中距和远距连通函数。此外，增强水文连通性并不必然带来更高的碳固存，低连通季节性孤立湖泊的碳固存量高达2051.18 g C/m²/年，超过了高连通季节性孤立湖泊的1593.75 g C/m²/年。这些发现挑战了传统认知，并为通过定向水文调控来优化湿地管理策略、提升碳固存能力提供了可操作的见解。

（来源：Water Resources Research 2026 Issue 1  DOI: 10.1029/2024wr039631）