Up to now, few studies pay attention on the effects of crab burrowing on soil properties of newly formed mudflats. However, this information is important to protect and manage the new-formed area. Therefore, a field observation was carried out to investigate the effects of crab burrowing on soil properties of newly formed mudflats in the Yellow River Delta. Crab burrow parameters and soil properties were measured at three fixed locations. Results indicated that crab burrowing greatly affected soil texture, but not soil nutrient. Soil textural feature was changed from clay to silt by significantly increasing the proportion of sand (+3.82%) and decreasing the proportion of clay (–4.76%). Crab burrowing showed significantly negative effects on soil bulk density, pH, soil salinity, and proportion of clay (p < 0.05), but significantly positive effects on water content and the proportion of sand and silt (p < 0.05). During crab burrowing, soil total carbon, total nitrogen, and C/N ratio increased slightly, but there were no significant differences in the properties of soil samples with and without crab burrowing (p > 0.05). Overall, crab burrowing had distinct positive effects on surface soil properties, especially the soil texture. These results suggest that crab burrowing would improve surface soil conditions, which in turn would stimulate other life processes and promote the stability of newly formed wetlands.

迄今为止，很少有研究关注螃蟹穴居对新形成的滩涂土壤性质的影响。但是，此信息对于保护和管理新建区域非常重要。因此，进行了野外观察，以调查蟹穴对黄河三角洲新形成的滩涂土壤性质的影响。在三个固定位置测量了蟹穴参数和土壤特性。结果表明，穴居蟹对土壤质地影响很大，对土壤养分影响不大。通过显着增加沙子的比例（+ 3.82％）和减少粘土的比例（–4.76％），将土壤质地特征从黏土变为粉土。穴居蟹对土壤容重，pH，土壤盐分和黏土比例具有显着的负面影响（p<0.05），但对含水量和沙土和粉砂的比例具有显着的积极影响（p <0.05）。在螃蟹穴居期间，土壤总碳，总氮和碳/氮比略有增加，但是有和没有蟹穴穴的土壤样品的特性都没有显着差异（p > 0.05）。总体而言，穴居蟹对地表土壤特性，尤其是土壤质地具有明显的积极影响。这些结果表明，穴居蟹将改善地表土壤状况，进而刺激其他生命过程并促进新形成的湿地的稳定性。