Transition Zones at the Changing Coastal Terrestrial‐Aquatic Interface

Patel, Kaizad F.; Malhotra, Avni; Norris, Cooper G.; McKever, Sophia A.; Fields, Devon M.; Musci, Jared I.; Bandopadhyay, Sreejata; Bond‐Lamberty, Benjamin; Chen, Xingyuan; Day, Donnie J.; Doro, Kennedy O.; Fluet‐Chouinard, Etienne; Garcia, Marci; Kemner, Kenneth M.; Machado‐Silva, Fausto; McDowell, Nate G.; Morris, Kendalynn A.; Myers‐Pigg, Allison; O’Loughlin, Edward J.; O’Meara, Teri; Peixoto, Roberta B.; Pennington, Stephanie C.; Regier, Peter; Rich, Roy; Rod, Kenton A.; Sulman, Benjamin; Thornton, Peter E.; Ward, Nicholas D.; Wilson, Stephanie J.; Weintraub, Michael N.; Megonigal, J. Patrick; Bailey, Vanessa L.

doi:10.1029/2025JG008978

Transition Zones at the Changing Coastal Terrestrial‐Aquatic Interface

Journal Article · Thu Oct 30 00:00:00 EDT 2025 · Journal of Geophysical Research. Biogeosciences

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/2025JG008978· OSTI ID:3010848

^[1]; ^[1]; Norris, Cooper G. ^[2]; ^[1]; Fields, Devon M. ^[3]; Musci, Jared I. ^[4]; ^[1]; ^[1]; ^[1]; Day, Donnie J. ^[5]; ^[5]; ^[1]; Garcia, Marci ^[1]; ^[6]; ^[5]; McDowell, Nate G. ^[1]; ^[1]; ^[7]; O’Loughlin, Edward J. ^[6]; ^[8] more »

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); CME Associates, Inc., East Syracuse, NY (United States)
California State Polytechnic Univ., Humboldt, Arcata, CA (United States)
The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States)
Univ. of Toledo, OH (United States)
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Univ. of Toledo, OH (United States)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD (United States)

Coastal soils are a significant but highly uncertain component of global biogeochemical cycles. These systems experience spatial and temporal variability in biogeochemical processes, driven by marsh‐to‐upland gradients and hydrological fluctuations. These fluctuations make it difficult to understand and predict biogeochemical processes in these highly dynamic systems. We studied coastal soil biogeochemistry and its variability (a) at regional scales and (b) across transects from upland forest to marsh, in two contrasting regions—Lake Erie, a freshwater lacustrine system, and Chesapeake Bay, a saltwater estuarine system. Salinity‐related analytes were a key source of variability in soil biogeochemistry, not just in the saltwater system, but surprisingly, also in the freshwater system. We had hypothesized linear trends in biogeochemical parameters along the TAI—however, contrary to expectations, transition soils were not consistently intermediate between upland and marsh endmembers; the non‐monotonic trends of C, P, Fe along our transects suggest that these do not behave as expected and may be difficult to model and predict—thus these are key analytes to study in our regions. Rapidly changing soil factors across coastal gradients (e.g., Ca, K, CEC, and TS) may act as precursors to ecosystem shifts. Our comprehensive soil characterization represents a snapshot of a single timepoint of surface soils and provides essential data for mechanistic modeling of ecosystem dynamics across coastal transects.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER). Earth & Environmental Systems Science (EESS)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725; AC05-76RL01830

OSTI ID:: 3010848

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 3030506

Report Number(s):: PNNL-SA--209208

Journal Information:: Journal of Geophysical Research. Biogeosciences, Journal Name: Journal of Geophysical Research. Biogeosciences Journal Issue: 11 Vol. 130; ISSN 2169-8953; ISSN 2169-8961

Publisher:: American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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