The scarcity of arable land has a significant negative effect on
human livelihoods. The reclamation of tidal flats is an important
approach in replenishing arable lands in coastal areas globally,
although this process might result in the loss of natural marine
ecosystems and water-buffering capacity. More than 10 million
hectares of tidal flats have been reclaimed over the past thousand
years in coastal China [1]. However, tidal flats lying on primary river
estuaries have been contaminated significantly with heavy metals
as a consequence of the rapid economic growth of China [2–4].
Transforming tidal flats into farmlands may pollute reclaimed soil
with heavy metals [5].