RT journal article
T1 Sedimentary Organic Carbon and Nitrogen Sequestration Across a Vertical Gradient on a Temperate Wetland Seascape Including Salt Marshes, Seagrass Meadows and Rhizophytic Macroalgae Beds
A1 de los Santos, Carmen B.
A1 Egea Tinoco, Luis Gonzalo
A1 Martins, Márcio
A1 Santos, Rui
A1 Masqué, Pere
A1 Peralta González, Gloria
A1 Brun Murillo, Fernando Guillermo
A1 Jiménez Ramos, Rocío
A2 Biología
K1 blue carbon
K1 caulerpa
K1 Cádiz bay
K1 salt marsh
K1 seagrass
K1 seascape
AB Coastal wetlands are key in regulating coastal carbon and nitrogen dynamics and contribute significantly to climate change mitigation and anthropogenic nutrient reduction. We investigated organic carbon (OC) and total nitrogen (TN) stocks and burial rates at four adjacent vegetated coastal habitats across the seascape elevation gradient of Cádiz Bay (South Spain), including one species of salt marsh, two of seagrasses, and a macroalgae. OC and TN stocks in the upper 1 m sediment layer were higher at the subtidal seagrass Cymodocea nodosa (72.3 Mg OC ha−1, 8.6 Mg TN ha−1) followed by the upper intertidal salt marsh Sporobolus maritimus (66.5 Mg OC ha−1, 5.9 Mg TN ha−1), the subtidal rhizophytic macroalgae Caulerpa prolifera (62.2 Mg OC ha−1, 7.2 Mg TN ha−1), and the lower intertidal seagrass Zostera noltei (52.8 Mg OC ha−1, 5.2 Mg TN ha−1). The sedimentation rates increased from lower to higher elevation, from the intertidal salt marsh (0.24 g cm−2 y−1) to the subtidal macroalgae (0.12 g cm−2 y−1). The organic carbon burial rate was highest at the intertidal salt marsh (91 ± 31 g OC m−2 y−1), followed by the intertidal seagrass, (44 ± 15 g OC m−2 y−1), the subtidal seagrass (39 ± 6 g OC m−2 y−1), and the subtidal macroalgae (28 ± 4 g OC m−2 y−1). Total nitrogen burial rates were similar among the three lower vegetation types, ranging from 5 ± 2 to 3 ± 1 g TN m−2 y−1, and peaked at S. maritimus salt marsh with 7 ± 1 g TN m−2 y−1. The contribution of allochthonous sources to the sedimentary organic matter decreased with elevation, from 72% in C. prolifera to 33% at S. maritimus. Our results highlight the need of using habitat-specific OC and TN stocks and burial rates to improve our ability to predict OC and TN sequestration capacity of vegetated coastal habitats at the seascape level. We also demonstrated that the stocks and burial rates in C. prolifera habitats were within the range of well-accepted blue carbon ecosystems such as seagrass meadows and salt marshes.
PB Springer
SN 1432-9840
YR 2022
FD 2022-10-28
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/29384
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/29384
LA eng
NO Correction to: Ecosystems https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-022-00801-5Correction Published: 10 March 2023
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 21-sep-2026