Time series measurements of carbon fluxes from a mangrove-dominated estuary
Abstract
Mangrove ecosystems are among the most important and productive coastal ecosystems globally, and due to their high productivity and rapid carbon cycling, these ecosystems are important modulators of carbon fluxes from the land to the ocean and between the water and the atmosphere. Therefore, they may play a crucial role in the global carbon cycle and climate. Nonetheless, to date, estimates of carbon fluxes in mangrove-dominated estuaries are associated with large uncertainties, because studies have typically focused on limited spatial and temporal scales. For the first time, continuous time series measurements of temperature, salinity, CDOM, pH and pCO2 covering both the dry and the wet seasons were made in Shark River, a tidal estuary in the largest contiguous mangrove forest in North America. The measurements were made at two permanent stations along the estuarine domain, and allowed estimates of net dissolved carbon export from the Shark River to the Gulf of Mexico, as well as the CO2 emissions to the atmosphere to be made at seasonal and annual timescales. Results reveal that, compared to the dry season, the wet season was characterized by higher dissolved carbon export and CO2 emissions, due to meteorological, hydrological, and biogeochemical processes. Additionally, an analysis of relationships between hydrodynamic control factors (i.e. water discharge and water level) in the upstream freshwater marsh and carbon fluxes in the Shark River highlighted the importance of developing good water management strategies in the future. Finally, the study estimated the social cost of carbon fluxes in the Shark River estuary as a contribution to carbon accounting in mangrove ecosystems.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2017
- Bibcode:
- 2017AGUFM.B52B..08V
- Keywords:
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- 0414 Biogeochemical cycles;
- processes;
- and modeling;
- BIOGEOSCIENCES;
- 0428 Carbon cycling;
- BIOGEOSCIENCES;
- 0442 Estuarine and nearshore processes;
- BIOGEOSCIENCES;
- 0497 Wetlands;
- BIOGEOSCIENCES