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Differential effects of chronic and acute simulated seawater intrusion on tidal freshwater marsh carbon cycling

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Abstract

Tidal freshwater ecosystems experience acute seawater intrusion associated with periodic droughts, but are expected to become chronically salinized as sea level rises. Here we report the results from an experimental manipulation in a tidal freshwater Zizaniopsis miliacea marsh on the Altamaha River, GA where diluted seawater was added to replicate marsh plots on either a press (constant) or pulse (2 months per year) basis. We measured changes in porewater chemistry (SO42−, Cl−, organic C, inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus), ecosystem CO2 and CH4 exchange, and microbial extracellular enzyme activity. We found that press (chronic) seawater additions increased porewater chloride and sulfate almost immediately, and ammonium and phosphate after 2–4 months. Chronic increases in salinity also decreased net ecosystem exchange, resulting in reduced CO2 and CH4 emissions from press plots. Our pulse treatment, designed to mimic natural salinity incursion in the Altamaha River (September and October), temporarily increased porewater ammonium concentrations but had few lasting effects on porewater chemistry or ecosystem carbon balance. Our findings suggest that long-term, chronic saltwater intrusion will lead to reduced C fixation and the potential for increased nutrient (N, P) export while acute pulses of saltwater will have temporary effects.

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Photo credit: Chris Craft

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Change history

  • 28 October 2019

    In the original publication, in the Methods section at the end of the section Gas Exchange Measurements, the following information was missing: ���For methane, we dropped one to two data points, as appropriate, to improve the r squared of the regression of methane concentration versus time to ���0.85. These changes did not affect the findings of the paper.���

  • 28 October 2019

    In the original publication, in the Methods section at the end of the section Gas Exchange Measurements, the following information was missing: ���For methane, we dropped one to two data points, as appropriate, to improve the r squared of the regression of methane concentration versus time to ���0.85. These changes did not affect the findings of the paper.���

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Acknowledgements

We thank the students and technicians who participated in the SALTEx project, especially Dontrece Smith, M. Maurer, C. Peacock, and the many IU Wetlands Laboratory students and GCE LTER Schoolyard participants who helped build the porewater wells and measure porewater and gas fluxes. A special thanks to Sarah Widney and two anonymous reviewers who made substantive improvements to the manuscript. This research was supported by funding from the National Science Foundation to CBC through the NSF LTER program (Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER, OCE-9982133, OCE-0620959 and OCE-1237140) and to ERH through the NSF GRFP (2011117001) and NSF DEB DDIG program (DEB-1401070) and support from the U.S. EPA ORD to JSB. This is contribution 1065 of the University of Georgia Marine Institute. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the USEPA.

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

    Ellen R. Herbert & Christopher B. Craft

  2. US Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, National Risk Management Research Laboratory, Cincinnati, OH, 45268, USA

    Joseph Schubauer-Berigan

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  1. Ellen R. Herbert
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Correspondence to Christopher B. Craft.

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Herbert, E.R., Schubauer-Berigan, J. & Craft, C.B. Differential effects of chronic and acute simulated seawater intrusion on tidal freshwater marsh carbon cycling. Biogeochemistry 138, 137–154 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-018-0436-z

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