Biogeochemical exchanges, carbon fluxes and dynamics at the wetland-estuary interface.
Maria Tzortziou1, Patrick Neale2, Patrick Megonigal2, Laura Ann Logozzo3, Alana Menendez3, Fang Cao4 and Natalie Nelson5, (1)CUNY City College of New York, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, New York, NY, United States, (2)Smithsonian Env Research Ctr, Edgewater, MD, United States, (3)CUNY City College of New York, New York, NY, United States, (4)City University of New York-City College, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, New York, NY, United States, (5)University of Florida, Ft Walton Beach, FL, United States
Abstract:
Through tidal inundation and lateral export, coastal wetlands exert a strong influence on the quantity, quality and distribution of carbon and nutrients flowing from land to oceans. Still, quanititative estimates of wetland-estuarine biogeochemical exchanges and carbon fluxes remain scarce. Moreover, little is known about the quality, transformation, and fate of the organic matter exported from tidal wetlands, and how these vary across systems and across temporal (e.g., seasonal) scales. Understanding these biogeochemical fluxes and processes has increasing significance in light of accelerated climate change, particularly since managed restoration of wetlands is considered one of the most promising climate change mitigation activities. Here we discuss new results on the directions and fluxes of particulate and dissolved organic carbon exchanges at the tidal wetland-estuary interface. Detailed microbial and photochemical degradation experiments, and multi-year bio-optical observations that encompass a wide range of environmental conditions and seasonal changes in tidal freshwater, brackish, and salt marsh systems of the Eastern US coast are presented. Results provide insights on the origin, quality, and fate of the organic compounds exported from tidal marshes and their influence on estuarine optical variability, photochemistry, and biogeochemistry.
