Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Interactive effects of salinity, redox, and colloids on greenhouse gas production and carbon mobility in coastal wetland soils

Journal Article · · PLoS ONE

Coastal wetlands, including freshwater systems near large lakes, rapidly bury carbon, but less is known about how they transport carbon either to marine and lake environments or to the atmosphere as greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as carbon dioxide and methane. This study examines how GHG production and organic matter (OM) mobility in coastal wetland soils vary with the availability of oxygen and other terminal electron acceptors. We also evaluated how OM and redox-sensitive species varied across different size fractions: particulates (0.45–1μm), fine colloids (0.1–0.45μm), and nano particulates plus truly soluble (<0.1μm; NP+S) during 21-day aerobic and anaerobic slurry incubations. Soils were collected from the center of a freshwater coastal wetland (FW-C) in Lake Erie, the upland-wetland edge of the same wetland (FW-E), and the center of a saline coastal wetland (SW-C) in the Pacific Northwest, USA. Anaerobic methane production for FW-E soils were 47 and 27,537 times greater than FW-C and SW-C soils, respectively. High Fe2+ and dissolved sulfate concentrations in FW-C and SW-C soils suggest that iron and/or sulfate reduction inhibited methanogenesis. Aerobic CO2 production was highest for both freshwater soils, which had a higher proportion of OM in the NP+S fraction (64±28% and 70±10% for FW-C and FW-E, respectively) and organic C:N ratios reflective of microbial detritus (5.3±5.3 and 5.3±7.0 for FW-E and FW-C, respectively) compared to SW-C, which had a higher fraction of particulate (58±9%) and fine colloidal (19±7%) OM and organic C:N ratios reflective of vegetation detritus (11.4 ± 1.7). The variability in GHG production and shifts in OM size fractionation and composition observed across freshwater and saline soils collected within individual and across different sites reinforce the high spatial variability in the processes controlling OM stability, mobility, and bioavailability in coastal wetland soils.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities (SUF); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER). Earth & Environmental Systems Science (EESS); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830; 60097; COMPASS-FME
OSTI ID:
2484191
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 2484274
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-192847
Journal Information:
PLoS ONE, Vol. 19, Issue 12; ISSN 1932-6203
Publisher:
Public Library of ScienceCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (90)

Mobilization of colloidal carbon during iron reduction in basaltic soils journal June 2014
Temporal variability in terrestrially-derived sources of particulate organic carbon in the lower Mississippi River and its upper tributaries journal September 2007
Export of dissolved organic carbon from an upland peatland during storm events: Implications for flux estimates journal December 2007
Ferrozine---a new spectrophotometric reagent for iron journal June 1970
Redox potential control and applications in microaerobic and anaerobic fermentations journal March 2013
Oxidation of soil organic carbon during an anoxic-oxic transition journal November 2020
Integrating Tide‐Driven Wetland Soil Redox and Biogeochemical Interactions Into a Land Surface Model journal April 2024
Relationships Between Salinity and Short-Term Soil Carbon Accumulation Rates from Marsh Types Across a Landscape in the Mississippi River Delta journal January 2017
Strong Dynamics in Tidal Marsh DOC Export in Response to Natural Cycles and Episodic Events From Continuous Monitoring journal July 2022
Saltwater intrusion into tidal freshwater marshes alters the biogeochemical processing of organic carbon journal January 2013
A Terrestrial‐Aquatic Model Reveals Cross‐Scale Interactions Regulate Lateral Dissolved Organic Carbon Transport From Terrestrial Ecosystems journal May 2022
Wetlands In a Changing Climate: Science, Policy and Management journal April 2018
Hydrologic Context Alters Greenhouse Gas Feedbacks of Coastal Wetland Salinization journal January 2019
Formularity: Software for Automated Formula Assignment of Natural and Other Organic Matter from Ultrahigh-Resolution Mass Spectra journal November 2017
Iron-oxide crystallinity increases during soil redox oscillations journal April 2006
Estimating the Impact of Seawater on the Production of Soil Water-Extractable Organic Carbon during Coastal Erosion journal January 2008
A Customizable Flow Injection System for Automated, High Throughput, and Time Sensitive Ion Mobility Spectrometry and Mass Spectrometry Measurements journal December 2017
Effect of alternate aerobic and anaerobic conditions on redox potential, organic matter decomposition and nitrogen loss in a flooded soil journal March 1975
Effect of salinity on the decomposition of soil organic carbon in a tidal wetland journal August 2018
A blueprint for blue carbon: toward an improved understanding of the role of vegetated coastal habitats in sequestering CO 2 journal January 2011
Dynamic interactions at the mineral–organic matter interface journal May 2021
Soil Microsites as a Source of Denitrification Variability1 journal January 1987
Time to anoxia: Observations and predictions of oxygen drawdown following coastal flood events journal April 2024
Tidal wetland resilience to sea level rise increases their carbon sequestration capacity in United States journal November 2019
Deciphering dissolved organic matter by Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS): from bulk to fractions and individuals journal June 2022
Soil Organic Carbon and Nitrogen Fractions under Different Land Uses and Tillage Practices journal June 2016
The renaissance of Odum's outwelling hypothesis in 'Blue Carbon' science journal July 2021
Oxidative mitigation of aquatic methane emissions in large Amazonian rivers journal February 2016
Salinity affects microbial activity and soil organic matter content in tidal wetlands journal January 2014
Tidal marshes as a source of optically and chemically distinctive colored dissolved organic matter in the Chesapeake Bay journal January 2008
Iron-mediated soil carbon response to water-table decline in an alpine wetland journal June 2017
Deciphering the dynamics of inorganic carbon export from intertidal salt marshes using high-frequency measurements journal October 2018
Spatial gradients in the characteristics of soil-carbon fractions are associated with abiotic features but not microbial communities journal January 2019
Equilibrium solubilities of methane, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen in water and sea water journal October 1979
Sorptive stabilization of organic matter in soils by hydrous iron oxides journal January 2007
High salinity leads to accumulation of soil organic carbon in mangrove soil journal June 2017
Redox Fluctuations Control the Coupled Cycling of Iron and Carbon in Tropical Forest Soils journal November 2018
Persistence of soil organic matter as an ecosystem property journal October 2011
Complexation by Particulate Organic Matter Alters Iron Redox Behavior journal January 2024
Riparian zone hydrology and soil water total organic carbon (TOC): implications for spatial variability and upscaling of lateral riparian TOC exports journal October 2012
Differences in soluble organic carbon chemistry in pore waters sampled from different pore size domains journal April 2017
Compensatory Mechanisms Absorb Regional Carbon Losses Within a Rapidly Shifting Coastal Mosaic journal September 2023
Tidal Pumping Controls Dissolved Organic Matter Properties and Outwelling From Mangrove Groundwater to Coastal Water journal March 2023
Iron-mediated organic matter decomposition in humid soils can counteract protection journal May 2020
Soil Science Challenges in a New Era: A Transdisciplinary Overview of Relevant Topics journal January 2020
Groundwater-derived dissolved inorganic and organic carbon exports from a mangrove tidal creek: The missing mangrove carbon sink? journal February 2013
Short-Term Groundwater Level Fluctuations Drive Subsurface Redox Variability journal August 2024
A global perspective on wetland salinization: ecological consequences of a growing threat to freshwater wetlands journal October 2015
Review on iron availability in soil: interaction of Fe minerals, plants, and microbes journal November 2013
Spatial Variability of Soil Properties in Created, Restored, and Paired Natural Wetlands journal January 2005
Antecedent conditions determine the biogeochemical response of coastal soils to seawater exposure journal February 2021
Impacts of Global Change on Ocean Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) Cycling journal June 2020
Pulsing hydrology, methane emissions and carbon dioxide fluxes in created marshes: A 2-year ecosystem study journal June 2008
Mobile Colloidal Organic Carbon: An Underestimated Carbon Pool in Global Carbon Cycles? journal December 2018
Effect of salinity on greenhouse gas production and emission in marsh soils during the decomposition of wetland plants journal September 2022
Effects of redox processes on soil acidity. journal August 1987
Paradigm shifts in soil organic matter research affect interpretations of aquatic carbon cycling: transcending disciplinary and ecosystem boundaries journal January 2014
Organo-mineral associations and size-fractionated colloidal organic carbon dynamics in a redox-controlled wetland journal November 2023
Causal mechanisms of soil organic matter decomposition: deconstructing salinity and flooding impacts in coastal wetlands journal June 2017
The Chemistry of Submerged Soils book January 1972
Increasing pH drives organic matter solubilization from wetland soils under reducing conditions journal December 2009
Biogeochemical Redox Processes and their Impact on Contaminant Dynamics journal January 2010
Representing the function and sensitivity of coastal interfaces in Earth system models journal May 2020
Carbon flux estimates are sensitive to data source: a comparison of field and lab temperature sensitivity data journal October 2022
Soils and sediments of coastal ecology: A global carbon sink journal November 2021
Seasonal drivers of dissolved oxygen across a tidal creek–marsh interface revealed by machine learning journal September 2023
An enzymic 'latch' on a global carbon store journal January 2001
Biotransformation of two-line silica-ferrihydrite by a dissimilatory Fe(III)-reducing bacterium: formation of carbonate green rust in the presence of phosphate journal July 2004
Salinity Influence on Methane Emissions from Tidal Marshes journal July 2011
The role of molecular weight in the enzyme-inhibiting effect of phenolics: the significance in peatland carbon sequestration journal April 2018
Carbon sequestration in wetlands, from science to practice: An overview of the biogeochemical process, measurement methods, and policy framework journal April 2018
High-frequency greenhouse gas flux measurement system detects winter storm surge effects on salt marsh: XXXX journal October 2018
Physiochemical Controls on the Horizontal Exchange of Blue Carbon Across the Salt Marsh‐Tidal Channel Interface journal June 2023
A simple and efficient method for the solid-phase extraction of dissolved organic matter (SPE-DOM) from seawater: SPE-DOM from seawater journal June 2008
The effect of increasing salinity and forest mortality on soil nitrogen and phosphorus mineralization in tidal freshwater forested wetlands journal November 2012
Processes in submerged soils – linking redox potential, soil organic matter turnover and plants to nutrient cycling journal June 2021
The Invisible Flood: The Chemistry, Ecology, and Social Implications of Coastal Saltwater Intrusion journal May 2019
Effects of Microbially Mediated Redox Conditions on PAH−Soil Interactions journal October 2005
Global-change controls on soil-carbon accumulation and loss in coastal vegetated ecosystems journal August 2019
Methane formation in aerobic environments journal January 2009
Direct and indirect controls on organic matter decomposition in four coastal wetland communities along a landscape salinity gradient journal December 2017
Dispersible Colloid Facilitated Release of Organic Carbon From Two Contrasting Riparian Sediments journal December 2020
Interactions between microbial processes and geochemical transformations under anaerobic conditions: a review journal January 2002
Plant‐mediated methane transport in emergent and floating‐leaved species of a temperate freshwater mineral‐soil wetland journal June 2020
Colloid Mobilization During Soil Iron Redox Oscillations journal September 2006
Outwelling of reduced porewater drives the biogeochemistry of dissolved organic matter and trace metals in a major mangrove‐fringed estuary in Amazonia journal January 2024
Quantification and molecular characterization of organo-mineral associations as influenced by redox oscillations journal February 2020
Accelerated microbial organic matter mineralization following salt-water intrusion into tidal freshwater marsh soils journal June 2010
The acid–base properties of high and low molecular weight organic acids in soil solutions of podzolic soils journal February 2000
Ionic Strength and Species Drive Iron–Carbon Adsorption Dynamics: Implications for Carbon Cycling in Future Coastal Environments journal July 2021