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Spartina maritima influence on the dynamics of the phosphorus sedimentary cycle in a warm temperate estuary (Mondego estuary, Portugal)

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Abstract

During the last decades the Mondego estuary has been under severe ecological stress mainly caused by eutrophication. In this salt march system, Spartina maritima covers about 10.5 ha of the intertidal areas. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effect of Spartina maritima marshes on the dynamics of phosphorus (P) binding in the surface sediment. We compare phosphate and oxygen fluxes, P-adsorption capacity, phosphate concentrations and total amount, and the extractable P forms in the upper 20 cm of sediment in vegetated sediment with adjacent mudflats without vegetation. Sediment pore-water profiles followed a clear trend, with lower P concentrations in more superficial layers, and increasing with depth. The vegetated mudflats presented lower concentrations of dissolved inorganic phosphorus than adjacent bare bottom mudflats, lower phosphate total amount, as well as higher P-adsorption capacity. Results from the extraction procedure show that the superficial layers are the most important for estuarine phosphorus dynamics, since maximum concentrations of labile P pools are present here. In contrast, higher proportions of refractory P pool are found in deeper layers. Spartina marsh sediments had less total P, less iron bound P, and less exchangeable P than adjacent bare bottom mudflats. Also the pool of loosely sorbed P is lower in the Spartina marsh. Phosphate regeneration from the sediment to the overlying water was only 11.8 kg ha−1 year−1 in vegetated sediment while 25.8 kg ha−1 year−1 in the bare mud flat. Plant uptake for growth combined with an enhanced P-adsorption capacity of the sediment, may explain these differences. Therefore, Spartina marshes are very important agents in the sedimentary P cycle worldwide, and can be considered a useful management tool in estuarine ecosystem recovery efforts.

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Acknowledgements

This study was carried out in the scope of the research project DYNAMOD (POCTI/M6S137431/2001) funded by the Portuguese FCT and supported by the POCTI – Formar e Qualificar – Medida 1.1 program (Portuguese FCT) through a Post-Doc grant (SFRH/BPD/5650/2001) (A.I. Lillebø), and by The Danish National Science Foundation through a grant number 21020463 (J.P. Coelho, M. Flindt, and H.S. Jensen).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. IMAR – Institute of Marine Research, Department of Zoology, University of Coimbra, 3004-517, Coimbra, Portugal

    Ana Isabel Lillebø, J. P. Coelho, J. C. Marques & M. A. Pardal

  2. CESAM – CESAM-Centre for Environment and Marine Studies, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal

    Ana Isabel Lillebø & J. P. Coelho

  3. Institute of Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230, Odense M, Denmark

    M. R. Flindt & H. S. Jensen

  4. Freshwater Biological Laboratory, University of Copenhagen, Helsingørgade 51, DK-3400, Hillerød, Denmark

    C. B. Pedersen

Authors
  1. Ana Isabel Lillebø
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  2. J. P. Coelho
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  3. M. R. Flindt
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  4. H. S. Jensen
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  5. J. C. Marques
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  6. C. B. Pedersen
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  7. M. A. Pardal
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Correspondence to Ana Isabel Lillebø.

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Lillebø, A.I., Coelho, J.P., Flindt, M.R. et al. Spartina maritima influence on the dynamics of the phosphorus sedimentary cycle in a warm temperate estuary (Mondego estuary, Portugal). Hydrobiologia 587, 195–204 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-007-0679-5

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