Effect of soil characteristics on preferential flow of Phragmites australis community in Yellow River delta

Wetland ecosystem, with their precious natural resources and important ecological functions, is an integral part of the global ecosystem. Preferential flow is a form of water and solute transport that is widely present in all types of soils and has a great impact on nutrient transport and environmental pollution in soils. In this paper, we observe the phenomenon of preferential flow within a wetland ecosystem and discuss the possible effects of preferential flow within a wetland on the wetland ecosystem as a background. We conducted dye tracing experiments outdoors. The preferential flow was qualitative analysis using soil composition. It was found that two types of preferential flow existed in the experimental area, namely finger flow and macropore flow. Quantitative analysis of the preferential flow was performed using PS and Image-Pro Plus software to obtain the intensity data of the preferential flow. The results show that the preferential flow phenomenon in the experimental area is obvious and the preferential-flow intensity data is high. We also found a clear correlation between initial soil–water content, which is an environmental factor characteristic of wetlands, and the preferential-flow data (p = 0.04 < 0.05). The correlation coefficient between the two sets of data is 0.45. This paper systematically investigates the preferential flow phenomenon in wetlands, aiming to provide directions and basic data for the subsequent research on preferential flow