Frontiers in Marine Science (Dec 2023)

Coastal inundation regime moderates the short-term effects of sediment and soil additions on seawater oxygen and greenhouse gas dynamics: a microcosm experiment

  • Peter Regier,
  • Nicholas D. Ward,
  • Nicholas D. Ward,
  • Alex Izquierdo,
  • Andrew H. Baldwin,
  • Donnie Day,
  • Julia McElhinny,
  • Kaizad Patel,
  • Rodrigo Vargas,
  • Jianqiu Zheng,
  • Exchange Consortium,
  • Allison Myers-Pigg,
  • Allison Myers-Pigg,
  • Silver Alford ,
  • Michael P. Back,
  • Vanessa Bailey,
  • Andrew H. Baldwin,
  • Jade Bolinger,
  • Madison Bowe,
  • Maxim I. Boyanov,
  • Jacob A. Cianci-Gaskill,
  • Nathan A. Conroy,
  • Matthew J. Cooper,
  • Donnie Day,
  • Alex Demeo,
  • Kyle Derby,
  • Derek Detweiler,
  • Suzanne Devres-Zimmerman,
  • Erin Eberhard,
  • Keryn Gedan,
  • LeeAnn Haaf,
  • Khadijah K. Homolka,
  • Erin Johnson,
  • Kenneth M. Kemner,
  • Aliya Khan,
  • Matthew Kirwan,
  • Payton Kittaka,
  • Erika Koontz,
  • Adam Langley,
  • Riley Leff,
  • Scott Lerberg,
  • Allison M. Lewis,
  • Sairah Malkin,
  • Amy M. Marcarelli,
  • Steven E. McMurray,
  • Tyler Messerschmidt,
  • Taylor C. Michael,
  • Holly A. Michael,
  • Elizabeth C. Minor,
  • Brian Moye,
  • Thomas J. Mozdzer,
  • Allison N. Myers-Pigg,
  • Neubauer Scott,
  • Cooper G. Norris,
  • Edward J. O'Loughlin,
  • Opal Otenburg,
  • Andrea Pain,
  • Kaizad F. Patel,
  • Stephanie C. Pennington,
  • Michael Philben ,
  • Evan Phillips,
  • Dannielle Pratt,
  • Peter Regier,
  • J. Alan Roebuck Jr.,
  • Lauren Sage,
  • Daniel Sandborn,
  • Stacy Smith,
  • Alex Smith,
  • Samina Soin-Voshell,
  • Bongkeun Song,
  • Amanda Sprague-Getsy ,
  • Kari St Laurent,
  • Lorie Staver,
  • Alice Stearns,
  • Lucie Stetten,
  • Rebecca Swerida,
  • Ethan J. Theuerkauf,
  • Katherine Tully,
  • Rodrigo Vargas,
  • Nicholas D. Ward,
  • Elizabeth Watson,
  • Coreen Weilminster

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1308590
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10

Abstract

Read online

The frequency and persistence of tidal inundation varies along the coastal terrestrial-aquatic interface, from frequently inundated wetlands to rarely inundated upland forests. This inundation gradient controls soil and sediment biogeochemistry and influence the exchange of soils and sediments from terrestrial to aquatic domains. Although a rich literature exist on studies of the influence of tidal waters on the biogeochemistry of coastal ecosystem soils, few studies have experimentally addressed the reverse question: How do soils (or sediments) from different coastal ecosystems influence the biogeochemistry of the tidal waters that inundate them? To better understand initial responses of coastal waters that flood coastal wetlands and uplands, we conducted short-term laboratory experiments where seawater was amended with sediments and soils collected across regional gradients of inundation exposure (i.e., frequently to rarely inundated) for 14 sites across the Mid-Atlantic, USA. Measured changes in dissolved oxygen and greenhouse gas concentrations were used to calculate gas consumption or production rates occurring during seawater exposure to terrestrial materials. We also measured soil and water physical and chemical properties to explore potential drivers. We observed higher oxygen consumption rates for seawater incubated with soils/sediments from frequently inundated locations and higher carbon dioxide production for seawater incubated with soils from rarely inundated transect locations. Incubations with soil from rarely inundated sites produced the highest global warming potential, primarily driven by carbon dioxide and secondarily by nitrous oxide. We also found environmental drivers of gas rates varied notably between transect locations. Our findings indicate that seawater responses to soil and sediment inputs across coastal terrestrial-aquatic interfaces exhibit some consistent patterns and high intra- and inter-site variability, suggesting potential biogeochemical feedback loops as inundation regimes shift inland.

Keywords