Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Variation in ecosystem carbon dynamics of saltwater marshes in the northern Gulf of Mexico

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Wetlands Ecology and Management Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Wetlands are highly productive ecosystems that can sequester large quantities of carbon. However, variation in physiological potential can alter their capacity to sequester carbon. To examine variation in ecosystem physiological capacity, we established three coastal marsh sites in Mississippi and Alabama spanning a productivity gradient. Over 1 year, we measured ecophysiological activity and spectral indices in two vegetation zones within each marsh to develop a better understanding of variation in ecosystem responses and health. Gross ecosystem exchange of carbon and ecosystem respiration rates (Reco) differed significantly among sites, with the highest activity at Grand Bay, Mississippi and Point Aux Pines, Alabama and lower ecophysiological activity at Dauphin Island, Alabama. Net ecosystem exchange was similar for all three study areas because greater carbon assimilation was negated by higher levels of respiration. Spectral indices and leaf area were significantly different by marsh vegetation zone, suggesting that alterations in species composition and plant productivity can have important implications for carbon sequestration. While limited to 1 year, this study establishes a foundation by which to evaluate future research conducted over greater temporal and spatial scales, thereby enhancing our understanding of marsh physiological activity.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Altor AE, Mitsch WJ (2008) Pulsing hydrology, methane emissions and carbon dioxide fluxes in created marshes: a 2-year ecosystem study. Wetlands 28:423–438

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson CJ, Mitsch WJ (2005) Effect of pulsing on macrophyte productivity and nutrient uptake: a wetland mesocosm experiment. Am Midl Nat 154:305–319

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barbier EB, Hacker SD, Kennedy C, Koch EW, Stier AC, Silliman BR (2011) The value of estuarine and coastal ecosystem services. Ecol Monogr 81:169–193

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Battaglia LL, Woodrey MM, Peterson, Dillon KS, Visser JM (2012) In: Batzer DP, Baldwin AH (eds) Wetlands of the Northern Gulf Coast in Wetland Habitats of North America: Ecology and Conservation Issues. University of California Press, Berkeley

    Google Scholar 

  • Boelman NT, Stielglitz M, Rueth HM, Sommerkorn M, Griffin KL, Shaver GR, Gamon JA (2003) Response of NDVI, biomass, and ecosystem gas exchange to long-term warming and fertilization in wet sedge tundra. Oecologia 135:414–421

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Burrows EH, Bubier JL, Mosedale A, Cobb GW, Crill PM (2005) Net ecosystem exchange of carbon dioxide in a temperate poor fen: a comparison of automated and manual chamber techniques. Biogeochemistry 76:21–45

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chmura GL (2011) What do we need to assess the sustainability of the tidal salt marsh carbon sink? Ocean Coast Manage. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2011.09.006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chmura GL, Anisfeld SC, Cahoon DR, Lynch JC (2003) Global carbon sequestration in tidal, saline wetland soils. Glob Biogeochem Cycles. https://doi.org/10.1029/2002GB001917

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cornell JA, Craft CB, Megonigal JP (2007) Ecosystem gas exchange across a created salt marsh chronosequence. Wetlands 27(2):240–250

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duarte CM, Middelburg JJ, Caraco N (2005) Major role of marine vegetation on the oceanic carbon cycle. Biogeosciences 2:1–8

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Duarte CM, Kennedy H, Marbà N, Hendriks I (2011) Assessing the capacity of seagrass meadows for carbon burial: current limitations and future strategies. Ocean Coast Manage. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2011.09.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ehleringer JR, Monson RK (1993) Evolutionary and ecological aspects of photosynthetic pathway variation. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 24:411–439

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gamon JA, Peñuelas J, Field CB (1992) A narrow-waveband spectral index that tracks diurnal changes in photosynthetic efficiency. Remote Sens Environ 4:35–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gamon JA, Serrano L, Surfus JS (1997) The photochemical reflectance index: an optical indicator of photosynthetic radiation use efficiency across species, functional types, and nutrient levels. Oecologia 112:492–500

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gattuso JP, Frankignoulle M, Wollast R (1998) Carbon and carbonate metabolism in coastal aquatic ecosystems. Annu Rev Ecol Evol Syst 29:405–434

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harris A, Gamon JA, Pastorello GZ, Wong CYS (2014) Retrieval of the photochemical reflectance index for assessing xanthophyll cycle activity: a comparison of near-surface optical sensors. Biogeosciences 11:6277–6292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hopkinson CS, Cai W, Hu X (2012) Carbon sequestration in wetland dominated coastal systems-a global sink of rapidly diminishing magnitude. Curr Opin Environ Sustain 4:186–194

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • IPCC (2014) Climate change 2014: the physical science basis. Contribution of working group I to the fifth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, and New York

  • Jimenez KL, Starr G, Staudhammer CL, Schedlbauer JL, Loescher HW, Oberbauer SF (2012) Carbon dioxide exchange rates from short- and long-hydroperiod Everglades freshwater marsh. J Geophys Res Biogeosci. https://doi.org/10.1029/2012JG002117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kathilankal JC, Mozdzer TJ, Fuentes JD, D’Odorico P, McGlathery KJ, Zieman JC (2008) Tidal influences on carbon assimilation by a salt marsh. Environ Res Lett 3:044010

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kearney MS, Stutzer D, Turpie K, Stevenson JC (2009) The effects of tidal inundation on the reflectance characteristics of coastal marsh vegetation. J Coast Res 25:1177–1186

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kinyanjui M (2010) NDVI-based vegetation monitoring in Mau forest complex, Kenya. Afr J Ecol 49:165–174

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • La Puma IP, Philippi TE, Oberbauer SF (2007) Relating NDVI to ecosystem CO2 exchange patterns in response to season length and soil warming manipulation in arctic Alaska. Remote Sens Environ 109:225–236

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leuning R, Cleugh HA, Zegelin SJ, Hughes D (2005) Carbon and water fluxes over a temperate Eucalyptus forest and a tropical wet/dry savanna in Australia: measurements and comparison with MODIS remote sensing estimates. Agric For Meteorol 129:151–173

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Littell RC, Milliken GA, Stroup WW, Wolfinger RD, Schabenberger O (2006) SAS for mixed models, 2nd edn. SAS Institute Inc., Cary

    Google Scholar 

  • Mcleod E, Chmura GL, Bouillon S, Salm R, Björk M, Duarte CM, Lovelock CE, Schlesinger WH, Stillman BR (2011) A blueprint for blue carbon: toward an improved understanding of the role of vegetated coastal habitats in sequestering CO2. Front Ecol Environ 9:552–560

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mishra DR, Cho HJ, Ghosh S, Fox A, Downs C, Merani PBT, Kirui P, Jackson N, Mishra S (2012) Post-spill state of the marsh: remote estimation of the ecological impact of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill on Louisiana Salt Marshes. Remote Sens Environ 118:176–185

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitsch J, Gosselink JG (2000) The value of wetlands: importance of scale and landscape setting. Ecol Econ 35:25–33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitsch WJ, Gosselink JG (2007) Wetlands, 4th edn. John Wiley & Sons Inc, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Morris JT (2007) Estimating net primary production of salt marsh macrophytes. In: Fahey TJ, Knapp AK (eds) Principles and standards for measuring primary production. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 106–119

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Naumann JC, Anderson JE, Young DR (2008) Linking physiological responses, chlorophyll fluorescence and hyperspectral imagery to detect salinity stress using the physiological reflectance index in the coastal shrub, Myrica cerifera. Remote Sens Environ 112:3865–3875

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oberbauer SF, Starr G, Pop EW (1998) Effects of extended growing season and soil warming on carbon dioxide and methane exchange of tussock tundra in Alaska. J Geophys Res 103:29075–29082

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Odum EP, Birch JB, Cooley JL (1983) Comparison of giant cutgrass productivity in tidal and impounded marshes with special reference to tidal subsidy and waste assimilation. Estuaries 6(2):88–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Odum WE, Odum EP, Odum HT (1995) Nature’s pulsing paradigm. Estuaries 18(4):547–555

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ollinger SV (2010) Sources of variability in canopy reflectance and the convergent properties of plants. New Phy 189:375–394

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pendleton L, Donato DC, Murray BC, Crooks S, Jenkins WA, Sifleet S, Craft C, Fourqurean JW, Kauffman JB, Marbà N, Megonigal P, Pidgeon E, Herr D, Gordon D, Baldera A (2012) Estimating global “Blue Carbon” emissions from conversion and degradation of vegetated coastal ecosystems. PLoS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0043542

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Pennings SC, Grant MB, Bertness MD (2005) Plant zonation in low-latitude salt marshes: disentangling the roles of flooding, salinity and competition. J Ecol 93:159–167

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peñuelas J, Piñol J, Filella I (1997) Estimation of plant water concentration by the reflectance water index WI (R900/R970). Int J Remote Sens 18:2869–2875

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rasse DP, Peresta G, Drake BG (2005) Seventeen years of elevated CO2 exposure in a Chesapeake Bay wetland: sustained but contrasting responses of plant growth and CO2 uptake. Glob Change Biol 11:369–377

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rocha AV, Goulden ML (2009) Why is marsh productivity so high? New insights from eddy covariance and biomass measurements in a Typha marsh. Agric For Meteorol 149:159–168

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schedlbauer JL, Oberbauer SF, Starr GS, Jimenez KL (2010) Seasonal differences in the CO2 exchange of a short-hydroperiod Florida Everglades marsh. Agric For Meteorol 150:994–1006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schedlbauer JL, Munyon JW, Oberbauer SF, Gaiser EE, Starr G (2012) Controls on ecosystem carbon dioxide exchange in short- and long-hydroperiod Florida Everglades freshwater marshes. Wetlands 32:801–812

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schulze ED, Beck E, Müller-Hohenstein K (2005) Plant ecology. Springer, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Silliman BR, van de Koppel J, McCoy MW, Diller J, Kasozi GN, Earl K, Adams PN, Zimmerman AR (2012) Degradation and resilience in Louisiana salt marshes after the BP–Deepwater Horizon oil spill. PNAS 109(28):11234–11239

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sims DA, Gamon JA (2003) Estimation of vegetation water content and photosynthetic tissue area from spectral reflectance: a comparison of indices based on liquid water and chlorophyll absorption features. Remote Sens Environ 84:526–537

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sklar FH, Browder JA (1998) Coastal environmental impacts brought about by alterations to freshwater flow in the Gulf of Mexico. Environ Manage 22:547–562

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stout JP (1984) The ecology of irregularly flooded salt marshes of the northeastern Gulf of Mexico: a community profile. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Services, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Teal JM, Kanwisher J (1961) Gas exchange in a Georgia salt marsh. Limnol Oceanogr 6:388–393

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thibodeaux LJ, Valsaraj KT, John VT, Papadopoulos KD, Pratt LR, Pesika NS (2011) Marine oil fate: knowledge gaps, basic research, and development needs, A perspective based on the deepwater Horizon Spill. Environ Eng Sci 28:87–93

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Touchette BW, Smith GA, Rhodes KL, Poole M (2009) Tolerance and avoidance: two contrasting physiological responses to salt stress in mature marsh halophytes Juncus roemerianus Scheele and Spartina alterniflora Loisel. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 380:106–112

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Turner RE (1990) Landscape development and coastal wetland losses in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. Am Zool 89:89–105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang M, Guan D, Han S, Wu J (2009) Comparison of eddy covariance and chamber-based methods for measuring CO2 flux in a temperate mixed forest. Tree Physiol 30:149–163

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Waring RH, Landsberg JJ, Williams M (1998) Net primary production of forests: a constant fraction of gross primary production? Tree Physiol 18:129–134

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wiegert RG, Freeman BJ (1990) Tidal marshes of the southeast Atlantic Coast: a community profile. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Services, Washington, DC

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson BJ, Mortazavi B, Kiene RP (2015) Spatial and temporal variability in carbon dioxide and methane exchange at three coastal marshes along a salinity gradient in a northern Gulf of Mexico estuary. Biogeochemistry 123:329–347

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yan Y, Zhao B, Chen J, Guo H, Gu Y, Wu Q, Li B (2008) Closing the carbon budget of estuarine wetlands with tower-based measurements and MODIS time series. Glob Change Biol 14:1–13

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Y, Li C, Trettin CC, Li H, Sun G (2002) An integrated model of soil, hydrology, and vegetation for carbon dynamics in wetland ecosystems. Global Biogeochem Cycles 16(4):1–17

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Jay McIlwain and the professional staff at Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve who dedicated time and resources to this project. Furthermore, we would like to thank field volunteers Phillip Jarnigan, Cathy Jarnigan, Betsy Jarnigan, Wesley Jarnigan, Nicholas Sanders, Joshua Jones and Catherine Rice.

Funding

Support for this project was provided by the Marine Environmental Science Consortium BP Global Reporting Initiative grant T1-002-UA.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alabama, 1325 Science and Engineering Complex, Box 870344, Tuscaloosa, AL, 35487, USA

    Gregory Starr, Julie R. Jarnigan, Christina L. Staudhammer & Julia A. Cherry

  2. New College, University of Alabama, 101B Carmichael, Box 870229, Tuscaloosa, AL, 35487, USA

    Julia A. Cherry

Authors
  1. Gregory Starr
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Julie R. Jarnigan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Christina L. Staudhammer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Julia A. Cherry
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gregory Starr.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Starr, G., Jarnigan, J.R., Staudhammer, C.L. et al. Variation in ecosystem carbon dynamics of saltwater marshes in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Wetlands Ecol Manage 26, 581–596 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-018-9593-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-018-9593-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation