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Effects of Increased Salinity and Inundation on Inorganic Nitrogen Exchange and Phosphorus Sorption by Tidal Freshwater Floodplain Forest Soils, Georgia (USA)

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Abstract

We investigated the effects of increasing salinity and inundation on inorganic N exchange and P sorption/precipitation in soils of tidal freshwater floodplain forests (TFFF) of coastal Georgia, USA. Our objectives were to better understand how sea level rise, increasing inundation, and saltwater intrusion will affect the ability of TFFFs to retain nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). We collected soil cores (0–5 cm) from three TFFFs that do not currently experience saltwater intrusion and from one TFFF currently experiencing saltwater intrusion and measured NH4-N exchange and PO4-P removal over five simulated 6-h tidal cycles using nutrient-enriched freshwater (30 μM NH4-N and 5 μM PO4-P). In a second experiment, we exposed soil cores to three salinities (0, 2, and 5) and two inundation depths (5 and 10 cm) using the same nutrient enrichment. When flooded with nutrient-enriched freshwater, soils from the three TFFFs that do not experience saltwater intrusion removed inorganic N and P in amounts ranging from 5.2 to 10.7 and 2.3 to 4.4 mg/m2, respectively, and the TFFF soils experiencing saltwater intrusion removed 2.1 to 3.8 mg P/m2. However, TFFF soils experiencing saltwater intrusion released inorganic N to the water column in amounts ranging from 7.1 to 67.5 mg/m2. In the second experiment, soils from TFFFs not experiencing saltwater intrusion released NH4-N to the water column when exposed to 2 and 5 salinity, and the amount of N released increased with salinity and number of tidal cycles. In contrast, the same TFFF soils sorbed two and three times more PO4-P when exposed to 2 and 5 salinity than when exposed to 0 salinity. P removal on a mass basis was greater under 10 cm of inundation, but the efficiency of removal was greater under the 5 cm flooding depth. Our findings suggest that saltwater intrusion caused by sea level rise will promote N release into the water column through organic matter mineralization and/or ion exchange and may promote P sorption, or precipitation of P with metal cations. In addition, release of N and resulting increased N/P could exacerbate eutrophication of estuaries in the future.

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Acknowledgments

We thank John M. Marton and John Carswell, the Satilla River Keeper for their assistance in the field. We appreciate the constructive comments of two anonymous reviewers of the manuscript. This research was supported by the US Department of Energy through grant #TUL-563-07/08 and the National Science Foundation grant #OCE-9982133 to the Georgia Coastal Ecosystems Long Term Ecological Research program. This is contribution number 1004 from the University of Georgia Marine Institute.

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  1. Gyeongsangnam-do Institute of Health and Environment, Gyeongsangnam-do, 641-825, Republic of Korea

    Mihee Jun

  2. School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA

    Anne E. Altor & Christopher B. Craft

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  1. Mihee Jun
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  2. Anne E. Altor
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Correspondence to Mihee Jun.

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Jun, M., Altor, A.E. & Craft, C.B. Effects of Increased Salinity and Inundation on Inorganic Nitrogen Exchange and Phosphorus Sorption by Tidal Freshwater Floodplain Forest Soils, Georgia (USA). Estuaries and Coasts 36, 508–518 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-012-9499-6

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