Relationships Between Salinity and Short-Term Soil Carbon Accumulation Rates from Marsh Types Across a Landscape in the Mississippi River Delta

Baustian, Melissa M.; Stagg, Camille L.; Perry, Carey L.; Moss, Leland C.; Carruthers, Tim J. B.; Allison, Mead A.

doi:10.1007/s13157-016-0871-3

Cited by 44 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…Fresh sites were dominated by Panicum hemitomon and Typha latifolia , oligohaline sites were dominated by Sagittaria lancifolia and Schoenoplectus americanus , mesohaline sites were dominated by Spartina patens and S. americanus , and polyhaline sites were dominated by Spartina alterniflora and Juncus roemerianus . Within each of the four wetland types, six replicate sites were established across two hydrologic basins, Terrebonne and Barataria Basins, for a total of 24 sites (Figure ; Baustian et al, ; Stagg et al, 2017).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Direct and indirect controls on organic matter decomposition in four coastal wetland communities along a landscape salinity gradient

et al. 2017

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1. Coastal wetlands store more carbon than most ecosystems globally. As sea level rises, changes in flooding and salinity will potentially impact ecological functions, such as organic matter decomposition, that influence carbon storage. However, little is known about the mechanisms that control organic matter loss in coastal wetlands at the landscape scale. As sea level rises, how will the shift from fresh to salt-tolerant plant communities impact organic matter decomposition? Do longterm, plant-mediated, effects of sea-level rise differ from direct effects of elevated salinity and flooding? 2. We identified internal and external factors that regulated indirect and direct pathways of sea-level rise impacts, respectively, along a landscape-scale salinity gradient that incorporated changes in wetland type (fresh, oligohaline, mesohaline and polyhaline marshes). We found that indirect and direct impacts of sea-level rise had opposing effects on organic matter decomposition.3. Salinity had an indirect effect on litter decomposition that was mediated through litter quality. Despite significant variation in environmental conditions along the landscape gradient, the best predictors of above-and below-ground litter decomposition were internal drivers, initial litter nitrogen content and initial litter lignin content respectively. Litter decay constants were greatest in the oligohaline marsh and declined with increasing salinity, and the fraction of litter remaining (asymptote) was greatest in the mesohaline marsh. In contrast, direct effects of salinity and flooding were positive. External drivers, salinity and flooding, stimulated cellulytic activity, which was highest in the polyhaline marsh. Synthesis.Our results indicate that as sea level rises, initial direct effects of salinity will stimulate decay of labile carbon, but over time as plant communities shift from fresh to polyhaline marsh, litter decay will decline, yielding greater potential for long-term carbon storage. These findings highlight the importance of quantifying carbon loss at multiple temporal scales, not only in coastal wetlands but also in other ecosystems where plant-mediated responses to climate change will have significant impacts on carbon cycling. 656 | Journal of Ecology STAGG eT Al.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Direct and indirect controls on organic matter decomposition in four coastal wetland communities along a landscape salinity gradient

et al. 2017

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“…In general, most tidal wetland studies have shown that soil organic carbon stocks typically decrease with an increasing salinity (Baustian et al 2017;Christopher Craft 2007;Hansen et al 2017). A previous tidal wetland study in Delaware found a greater carbon stock in tidal freshwater wetlands compared to oligohaline and mesohaline systems (Weston et al 2014).…”

Section: Carbon Variability Across Salinity Regimementioning

confidence: 98%

“…Saltwater intrusion into freshwater tidal marshes has been measured to increase and prolong sulfate reduction, increase methane emissions, stimulate microbial decomposition, and subsequently decrease soil organic carbon content (Weston et al 2011). This is a concern since sea level rise and migrating salt gradients up tidal tributaries could mean a lower rate of carbon accumulation (Baustian et al 2017) and temporary increases in methane emissions (Weston et al 2011) but could lead to overall lower methane emissions for long-term higher salinity exposure (Neubauer et al 2013). Likewise, the ubiquitous invasive wetland reed P.australis has been measured to produce more methane compared to native Phragmites sp.…”

Section: Methane Estimates By Salinitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing coastal carbon variability in two Delaware tidal marshes

et al. 2020

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Coastal wetlands provide numerous ecosystem services, including the ability to sequester and store carbon. Recent initiatives, such as the U.S. Climate Alliance’s National Working Lands Challenge, have sought to better understand and quantify this ‘blue carbon’ storage as a land management approach to maintain, or potentially offset, atmospheric carbon emissions. To build on this effort locally, loss on ignition and elemental analyses were used to assess sediment organic matter, dry bulk density, and carbon density variability within the root zone of a mesohaline and oligohaline tidal marsh in Delaware. Additionally, we assessed sediment carbon variability at depth greater than one meter and quantified the black carbon fraction in the mesohaline tidal marsh. Organic matter concentrations ranged between 11.85 ± 1.19% and 23.12 ± 6.15% and sediment carbon density ranged from 0.03 ± 0.01 g cm−3 to 0.06 ± 0.02 g cm−3 with both found to significantly differ between the mesohaline and oligohaline tidal marsh systems. Significant differences between dominant vegetation types were also found. We used these data to further estimate and valuate the carbon stock at the mesohaline tidal marsh to be 350 ± 310 metric tons of soil carbon accumulation per year with a social carbon value of $40,000 ± $35,000. This work improves our knowledge of Delaware-specific carbon stocks, and it may further facilitate broad estimates of carbon storage in under-sampled areas, and thereby enable better quantification of economic and natural benefits of tidal wetland systems by land managers.

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“…), which could affect the decomposition of soil organic matter and accumulation of carbon by regulating the diffusion of O 2 and soil oxidation/reduction status (Baustian et al. ). Moreover, the mineralization of soil organic matter could release some nutrient elements, such as N and P, altering the status of soil nitrogen and phosphorus (Pathak and Rao , Schimel ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Tidal flooding also affects vegetation performance and soil properties. The inundation of flooding alters the soil hydrological conditions, such as soil moisture and oxygen content , which could affect the decomposition of soil organic matter and accumulation of carbon by regulating the diffusion of O 2 and soil oxidation/reduction status (Baustian et al 2017). Moreover, the mineralization of soil organic matter could release some nutrient elements, such as N and P, altering the status of soil nitrogen and phosphorus (Pathak andRao 1998, Schimel 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tidal regime influences the spatial variation in trait‐based responses of Suaeda salsa and edaphic conditions

Wang

Yan

et al. 2019

Ecosphere

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Tidal regime is recognized as a vital hydrological process in the restructuring of saltmarsh vegetation communities, resulting in differing edaphic conditions and ecosystem functions. Ample studies have focused on the context‐dependent effects of tidal disturbance on saltmarsh vegetation worldwide, particularly trait‐based responses to physical factors; however, to our knowledge, there are few insights into the edaphic conditions and responses of saltmarsh plants as well as plant–soil systems to tidal disturbance gradients in the Yellow River Delta (YRD), a temperate estuary in northern China. Here, we conducted field surveys and experimental fieldwork at four distinct sites that varied with tidal regime. Site‐specific effects of tidal disturbance on the annual saltmarsh foundation plant Suaeda salsa, as well as their edaphic surroundings, were analyzed. Our results showed that trait‐based responses largely explained the tidal disturbance impacts on S. salsa; moreover, the edaphic environment differed significantly among sites. We found that flooding frequency had a significantly negative relation to S. salsa total biomass, which consisted of above‐ and belowground biomass, and a significantly positive relation to height. In general, total organic carbon, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus differed among sites, and these differences changed with the soil layers. In addition, there were some correlations between the soil environment and plant traits. Total organic carbon was linearly positively linked to the biomass of S. salsa at each soil depth. The carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus stoichiometry of the soil had a low correlation with that of the belowground biomass of S. salsa but had a significant correlation with that of the aboveground biomass of S. salsa. Our study suggests that spatial patterns of S. salsa and edaphic conditions in the YRD vary with tidal regime, therefore providing a basis for the context‐dependent conservation and restoration of coastal saltmarsh ecosystems, especially in areas with irregular, semidiurnal tides. Moreover, our findings highlight the importance of potential interactive effects between plant traits and tidal disturbances in regulating biogeochemical cycles, especially carbon sequestration, in coastal saltmarsh systems.

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Relationships Between Salinity and Short-Term Soil Carbon Accumulation Rates from Marsh Types Across a Landscape in the Mississippi River Delta

Cited by 44 publications

References 61 publications

Direct and indirect controls on organic matter decomposition in four coastal wetland communities along a landscape salinity gradient

Direct and indirect controls on organic matter decomposition in four coastal wetland communities along a landscape salinity gradient

Assessing coastal carbon variability in two Delaware tidal marshes

Tidal regime influences the spatial variation in trait‐based responses of Suaeda salsa and edaphic conditions

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