Details:

Journal Title:
Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences
Personal Author:
Williams, Sydney L. ; Rogers, Jamie L. ; Fischman, Hallie S. ; Morrison, Elise S. ; Angelini, Christine
Williams, Sydney L. ; Rogers, Jamie L. ; Fischman, Hallie S. ; Morrison, Elise S. ; Angelini, Christine Less -
NOAA Program & Office:
NOS (National Ocean Service)
Description:
Interest in leveraging suspension feeders, such as marine bivalves, to exert top‐down control on organic matter (OM) loading in estuaries is gaining momentum. Not only can these faunal engineers alleviate the consequences of nutrient pollution, but they may also bolster the critical blue carbon services provided by coastal ecosystems—a potential dual, mitigating effect on cultural eutrophication and climate change. Ribbed mussels, Geukensia demissa, offer a useful model for assessing faunally driven carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) processes in these systems and their relationships with faunal density. Combining bulk geochemical analyses with Bayesian stable isotope mixing model frameworks (MixSIAR), we quantified the effect of mussels on the source and amount of organic C and N deposited to the benthic floor (i.e., sedimentation), accumulated in surface sediments, and stored in aboveground Spartina alterniflora in Georgia salt marshes. Relative to areas without mussels, mussel presence shifted the source of deposited and accumulated OM to a more allochthonous makeup; amplified the amount of deposited, but not accumulated, allochthonous and autochthonous OM; and enhanced aboveground storage of C and N. Both sources of OM accumulated in sediments as well as standing stocks of C and N were highly and positively correlated with local mussel density (ind. m−2) but unrelated to neighboring mussel density (ind. ∼25 m−2) in adjacent, non‐mussel areas. This work provides new evidence that suspension feeders, through their faunal engineering activities, can interact powerfully and synergistically with primary producers to enhance the blue carbon services of marshes and counteract coastal eutrophication.
Keywords:
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Aquatic Science Atmospheric Science Ecology Forestry Paleontology Soil Science Water Science And Technology
Source:
Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 128(11)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1029/2023jg007535
ISSN:
2169-8953;2169-8961;
Format:
PDF
Publisher:
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Document Type:
Journal Article
Funding:
Grant no. NA20NOS4200119
Rights Information:
Other
Compliance:
Library
Main Document Checksum:
[+]
urn:sha256:2fcf3d1bd2a52057fc8b6c8c441c232dec6f34c0a75e76abcc559e46d0353ade
Download URL:
https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/59839/noaa_59839_DS1.pdf
File Type:

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