Hydrologic export is a major component of coastal wetland carbon budgets
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Abstract
Coastal wetlands are among the most productive habitats on Earth and sequester globally significant amounts of atmospheric carbon (C). Extreme rates of soil C accumulation are widely assumed to reflect efficient C storage. Yet the fraction of wetland C lost via hydrologic export has not been directly quantified, since comprehensive budgets including direct estimates of lateral C loss are lacking. We present a complete net ecosystem C budget (NECB), demonstrating that lateral losses of C are a major component of the NECB for the largest stable brackish tidal marsh on the U.S. Pacific coast. Mean annual net ecosystem exchange of CO2 with the atmosphere (NEE = −185 g C m2 year−1, negative NEE denoting ecosystem uptake) was compared to long-term soil C burial (87–110 g C m2 year−1), suggesting only 47–59% of fixed atmospheric C accumulates in soils. Consistently, direct monitoring in 2017–2018 showed NEE of −255 g C m−2 year−1, and hydrologic export of 105 g C m−2 year−1 (59% of NEE remaining on site). Despite their high C sequestration capacity, lateral losses from coastal wetlands are typically a larger fraction of the NECB when compared to other terrestrial ecosystems. Loss of inorganic C (the least measured NECB term) was 91% of hydrologic export and may be the most important term limiting C sequestration. The high productivity of coastal wetlands thus serves a dual function of C burial and estuarine export, and the multiple fates of fixed C must be considered when evaluating wetland capacity for C sequestration.
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Hydrologic export is a major component of coastal wetland carbon budgets |
| Series title | Global Biogeochemical Cycles |
| DOI | 10.1029/2019GB006430 |
| Volume | 34 |
| Issue | 8 |
| Publication Date | August 20, 2020 |
| Year Published | 2020 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | American Geophysical Union |
| Contributing office(s) | California Water Science Center, WMA - Earth System Processes Division |
| Description | e2019GB006430, 14 p. |