Soil Organic Carbon Development and Turnover in Natural and Disturbed Salt Marsh Environments

Luk, Sheron Y.; Todd‐Brown, Katherine; Eagle, Meagan; McNichol, Ann P.; Sanderman, Jonathan; Gosselin, Kelsey; Spivak, Amanda C.

doi:10.1029/2020GL090287

i

Soil Organic Carbon Development and Turnover in Natural and Disturbed Salt Marsh Environments

2021
By Luk, Sheron Y. ; Todd‐Brown, Katherine ; Eagle, Meagan ; ...

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Journal Title:

Geophysical Research Letters
Personal Author:

Luk, Sheron Y. ; Todd‐Brown, Katherine ; Eagle, Meagan ; McNichol, Ann P. ; Sanderman, Jonathan ; Gosselin, Kelsey ; Spivak, Amanda C.
NOAA Program & Office:

NOS (National Ocean Service) ; OCM (Office for Coastal Management) ; OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research)
Description:

Salt marsh survival with sea-level rise (SLR) increasingly relies on soil organic carbon (SOC) accumulation and preservation. Using a novel combination of geochemical approaches, we characterized fine SOC (≤1 mm) supporting marsh elevation maintenance. Overlaying thermal reactivity, source (δ13C), and age (F14C) information demonstrates several processes contributing to soil development: marsh grass production, redeposition of eroded material, and microbial reworking. Redeposition of old carbon, likely from creekbanks, represented ∼9%–17% of shallow SOC (≤26 cm). Soils stored marsh grass-derived compounds with a range of reactivities that were reworked over centuries-to-millennia. Decomposition decreases SOC thermal reactivity throughout the soil column while the decades-long disturbance of ponding accelerated this shift in surface horizons. Empirically derived estimates of SOC turnover based on geochemical composition spanned a wide range (640–9,951 years) and have the potential to inform predictions of marsh ecosystem evolution.
Keywords:

Carbon Salt Marshes Salt Marshes Decomposition Soil Organic Carbon
Source:

Geophysical Research Letters, 48, e2020GL090287
DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL090287
Document Type:

Journal Article
Funding:

Grant no. NA14NOS4190145 ; Grant no. NA14OAR4170104
Rights Information:

Other
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Submitted
Main Document Checksum:

urn:sha256:c062d5a4c27d0dc0788cfd1d80f31e121e6b1de5f1dcf30d49deb2150bb2cb2e
Download URL:

https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/34005/noaa_34005_DS1.pdf
File Type:

[PDF - 2.04 MB ]

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