Integrating monthly spring tidal waves into estuarine carbon budget of meta-ecosystems

Yu Gao; Jiquan Chen; Neil Saintilan; Bin Zhao; Zutao Ouyang; Tingting Zhang; Haiqiang Guo; Yingying Hao; Feng Zhao; Jianyi Liu; Sikai Wang; Ping Zhuang

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.167026

Integrating monthly spring tidal waves into estuarine carbon budget of meta-ecosystems

Sci Total Environ. 2023 Dec 20:905:167026. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.167026. Epub 2023 Sep 15.

Authors

Yu Gao¹, Jiquan Chen², Neil Saintilan³, Bin Zhao⁴, Zutao Ouyang⁵, Tingting Zhang⁶, Haiqiang Guo⁷, Yingying Hao⁷, Feng Zhao⁸, Jianyi Liu⁸, Sikai Wang⁶, Ping Zhuang⁸

Affiliations

¹ East China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences; Key Laboratory of Fisheries Remote Sensing, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs; Scientific Observing and Experimental Station of Fisheries Resources and Environment of East China Sea and Yangtze Estuary, Shanghai 200090, China; Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Coastal Ecosystems Research Station of the Yangtze River Estuary, and Institute of Eco-Chongming (IEC), Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China; Key Laboratory of Yangtze River Water Environment, Ministry of Education, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China; School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia.
² Center for Global Change and Earth Observations (CGCEO), Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA.
³ School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia.
⁴ Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Coastal Ecosystems Research Station of the Yangtze River Estuary, and Institute of Eco-Chongming (IEC), Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China. Electronic address: zhaobin@fudan.edu.cn.
⁵ College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA.
⁶ East China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences; Key Laboratory of Fisheries Remote Sensing, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs; Scientific Observing and Experimental Station of Fisheries Resources and Environment of East China Sea and Yangtze Estuary, Shanghai 200090, China; Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Coastal Ecosystems Research Station of the Yangtze River Estuary, and Institute of Eco-Chongming (IEC), Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China.
⁷ Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Coastal Ecosystems Research Station of the Yangtze River Estuary, and Institute of Eco-Chongming (IEC), Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China.
⁸ East China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences; Key Laboratory of Fisheries Remote Sensing, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs; Scientific Observing and Experimental Station of Fisheries Resources and Environment of East China Sea and Yangtze Estuary, Shanghai 200090, China.

PMID: 37716674
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.167026

Abstract

The contribution of lateral carbon (C) to hydrological processes is well known for its ecological functions in the estuarine C budget across the terrestrial-aquatic interfaces. However, sampling of individual daily tides during multiple months or seasons in heterogeneous patches of landscape makes extrapolation from days to months or seasons challenging. In this paper, we examine the terrestrial-aquatic lateral hydrological C flux for an estuarine marsh where monthly tides, including consecutive daily spring tides, were measured over the course of an entire year. We found a significant correlation between imported and exported hydrological dissolved C, both dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), although a similar correlation was not found for particulate organic carbon (POC). Based on a total of 44 sampling trips over a year, this saltmarsh appeared to be a net exporter of DOC and DIC but a net sink of POC. Furthermore, the lateral hydrological C budget functioned as a limited lateral C sink in terms of organic C (i.e., ΔPOC and ΔDOC), while the marsh functioned as a small lateral C source. Our findings highlight the importance of lateral hydrologic inflows/outflows in wetland C budgets of land-water interfaces, especially in those characterized by the meta-ecosystem framework. Surprisingly, different C species responded unequally to the lateral hydrological C budget, suggesting that a conceptual realization of meta-ecosystem is a powerful theoretical framework to extend the outwelling hypothesis.

Keywords: Coastal marsh; Dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC); Dissolved organic carbon (DOC); Lateral carbon flux; Monthly tide; Particulate organic carbon (POC).