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Abstract Coastal salt marshes store large amounts of carbon but the magnitude and patterns of greenhouse gas (GHG; i.e., carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4)) fluxes are unclear. Information about GHG fluxes from these ecosystems comes from studies of sediments or at the ecosystem‐scale (eddy covariance) but fluxes from tidal creeks are unknown. We measured GHG concentrations in water, water quality, meteorological parameters, sediment CO2efflux, ecosystem‐scale GHG fluxes, and plant phenology; all at half‐hour intervals over 1 year. Manual creek GHG flux measurements were used to calculate gas transfer velocity (k) and parameterize a model of water‐to‐atmosphere GHG fluxes. The creek was a source of GHGs to the atmosphere where tidal patterns controlled diel variability. Dissolved oxygen and wind speed were negatively correlated with creek CH4efflux. Despite lacking a seasonal pattern, creek CO2efflux was correlated with drivers such as turbidity across phenological phases. Overall, nighttime creek CO2efflux (3.6 ± 0.63 μmol/m2/s) was at least 2 times higher than nighttime marsh sediment CO2efflux (1.5 ± 1.23 μmol/m2/s). Creek CH4efflux (17.5 ± 6.9 nmol/m2/s) was 4 times lower than ecosystem‐scale CH4fluxes (68.1 ± 52.3 nmol/m2/s) across the year. These results suggest that tidal creeks are potential hotspots for CO2emissions and could contribute to lateral transport of CH4to the coastal ocean due to supersaturation of CH4(>6,000 μmol/mol) in water. This study provides insights for modeling GHG efflux from tidal creeks and suggests that changes in tide stage overshadow water temperature in determining magnitudes of fluxes.
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Methane and Carbon Dioxide Fluxes in a Temperate Tidal Salt Marsh: Comparisons Between Plot and Ecosystem Measurements
Abstract Tidal wetlands are comprised of complex interdependent pathways where measurements of carbon exchange are often scale dependent. Common data collection methods (i.e., chambers and eddy covariance) are inherently constrained to different spatial and temporal scales which could generate biased information for applications of carbon accounting, identifying functional relationships and predicting future responses to climate change. Consequently, it is needed to systematically evaluate measurements derived from multiple approaches to identify differences and how techniques complement each other to reconcile interpretations. To accomplish this, we tested ecosystem‐scale eddy covariance with plot‐scale chamber measurements within a temperate salt marsh. We found good agreement (R2 = 0.71–0.95) when comparing measurements of CH4emissions and CO2exchange but this agreement was dependent upon canopy phenology with discrepancies mainly arising during senescence and dormancy phenophases. The environmental drivers for CH4and CO2fluxes were mostly preserved across different measurement techniques, but the number of drivers increases while their individual strength decreases at the ecosystem scale. Empirical upscaling models parameterized with chamber measurements overestimated annual net ecosystem exchange (NEE; 108%) and gross primary production (GPP; 12%) while underestimating ecosystem respiration (Reco; 14%) and CH4emissions (69%) compared to eddy covariance measurements. Our results suggest that the environmental complexity of CH4and CO2fluxes in salt marshes may be underestimated by chamber‐based measurements, and highlights how different techniques are complementary while considering limitations at each level of measurement.
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- PAR ID:
- 10418090
- Publisher / Repository:
- DOI PREFIX: 10.1029
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences
- Volume:
- 127
- Issue:
- 7
- ISSN:
- 2169-8953
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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