Emission of gaseous carbon dioxide from salt-marsh sediments and its relation to other carbon losses

Abstract

Rates of CO₂ emission from bare salt-marsh sediments in areas of short and tall formSpartina alterniflora were measured monthly for 1 yr. Maximum emission rates, as high as 325 ml CO₂m⁻²h⁻¹, were observed during summer months, while minimum rates, 10.2 ml CO₂ m⁻²h⁻¹, were observed during the winter. An exponential function of inverse soil temperature explained most of the seasonal variability, but other factors are involved in regulating CO₂ emissions as demonstrated by rates that were higher in spring than in late summer at equivalent temperatures. Annual CO₂ emissions from bare sediments were 27.3 and 18.6 mol C m⁻² yr⁻¹ in communities of short and tallS. alterniflora, respectively. It was estimated that losses of dissolved inorganic carbon from the turnover of pore water, up to 14.6 mol C m⁻² yr⁻¹ at the creek bank (tall,S. alterniflora) site, and diffusion of CO₂ from the root system ofS. alterniflora through the culms, 12.3 to 16.2 mol C m⁻² yr⁻¹, could also be important pathways of carbon loss from marsh sediments. If the internal flux of CO₂ from the root system through the culm is refixed within the leaves, then the observed rate of 9.8 μI CO₂ min⁻¹ cm⁻² of culm cross sectional area appears to make a small but significant contribution to total photosynthesis.