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Title: High-Frequency Greenhouse Gas Flux Measurement System Detects Winter Storm Surge Effects on Salt Marsh

Journal Article · · Global Change Biology
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14430· OSTI ID:1468975
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1]
  1. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
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The physical controlling factors on coastal plant communities are among the most dynamic of known ecosystems, but climate change alters coastal surface and subsurface hydrologic regimes, which makes rapid measurement of greenhouse gas fluxes critical. Greenhouse gas exchange rates in these terrestrial–aquatic ecosystems are highly variable worldwide with climate, soil type, plant community, and weather. Therefore, increasing data collection and availability should be a priority. Here, we demonstrate and validate physical and analytical modifications to automated soil–flux chamber measurement methods for unattended use in tidally driven wetlands, allowing the high–frequency capture of storm surge and day/night dynamics. Winter CO2 flux from Sarcocornia perennis marsh to the atmosphere was significantly greater during the day (2.8 mg m–2 h–1) than the night (2.2 mg m–2 h–1) (p < 0.001), while CH4 was significantly greater during the night (0.16 μg m–2 h–1) than the day (–0.13 μg m–2 h–1) (p = 0.04). The magnitude of CO2 flux during the day and the frequency of CH4 flux were reduced during a surge (p < 0.001). Surge did not significantly affect N2O flux, which without non–detects was normally distributed around –24.2 ng m–2 h–1. Analysis of sustained–flux global potentials for increased storm surge frequency scenarios, 2020 to 2100, suggested that the marsh in winter remains an atmospheric CO2 sink. The modeled results showed an increased flux of CO2 to the atmosphere, while in soil, the uptake of CH4 increased and N2O uptake decreased. We present analytical routines to correctly capture gas flux curves in dynamic overland flooding conditions and to flag data that are below detection limits or from unobserved chamber–malfunction situations. Storm surge is an important phenomenon globally, but event–driven, episodic factors can be poorly estimated by infrequent sampling. Here, deployment of this system in coastal marshes worldwide would permit its inclusion in flux calculations.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
1468975
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1494299
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-135874
Journal Information:
Global Change Biology, Vol. 24, Issue 12; ISSN 1354-1013
Publisher:
WileyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 16 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
CO2
greenhouse gas
salt marsh
Sarcocornia perennis
soil flux chamber
storm surge
sustained‐flux global warming potential
terrestrial aquatic
greenhouse gas
salt marsh
storm surge
CO2
soil flux chamber
terrestrial aquatic
terrestrial aquatic interface
sustained-flux global warming potential
global warming potential