1
|
Keppeler FW, Junker JR, Shaw MJ, Alford SB, Engel AS, Hooper‐Bùi LM, Jensen OP, Lamb K, López‐Duarte PC, Martin CW, McDonald AM, Olin JA, Paterson AT, Polito MJ, Rabalais NN, Roberts BJ, Rossi RE, Swenson EM. Can biodiversity of preexisting and created salt marshes match across scales? An assessment from microbes to predators. Ecosphere 2023. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.4461] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/18/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Friedrich W. Keppeler
- Center for Limnology University of Wisconsin–Madison Madison Wisconsin USA
- Núcleo de Ecologia Aquática e Pesca da Amazônia Federal University of Pará Belém Pará Brazil
| | - James R. Junker
- Great Lakes Research Center Michigan Technological University Houghton Michigan USA
| | - Margaret J. Shaw
- Center for Limnology University of Wisconsin–Madison Madison Wisconsin USA
| | - Scott B. Alford
- Nature Coast Biological Station University of Florida Cedar Key Florida USA
| | - Annette S. Engel
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences The University of Tennessee–Knoxville Knoxville Tennessee USA
| | - Linda M. Hooper‐Bùi
- Department of Environmental Sciences Louisiana State University Baton Rouge Louisiana USA
| | - Olaf P. Jensen
- Center for Limnology University of Wisconsin–Madison Madison Wisconsin USA
| | - Katelyn Lamb
- Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences Louisiana State University Baton Rouge Louisiana USA
| | - Paola C. López‐Duarte
- Department of Biological Sciences University of North Carolina at Charlotte Charlotte North Carolina USA
| | - Charles W. Martin
- Nature Coast Biological Station University of Florida Cedar Key Florida USA
| | - Ashley M. McDonald
- Nature Coast Biological Station University of Florida Cedar Key Florida USA
| | - Jill A. Olin
- Great Lakes Research Center Michigan Technological University Houghton Michigan USA
| | - Audrey T. Paterson
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences The University of Tennessee–Knoxville Knoxville Tennessee USA
| | - Michael J. Polito
- Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences Louisiana State University Baton Rouge Louisiana USA
| | - Nancy N. Rabalais
- Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences Louisiana State University Baton Rouge Louisiana USA
| | | | - Ryann E. Rossi
- Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium Chauvin Louisiana USA
- St. Andrew and St. Joseph Bays Estuary Program Florida State University Panama City Panama City Florida USA
| | - Erick M. Swenson
- Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences Louisiana State University Baton Rouge Louisiana USA
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Zengel S, Weaver J, Mendelssohn IA, Graham SA, Lin Q, Hester MW, Willis JM, Silliman BR, Fleeger JW, McClenachan G, Rabalais NN, Turner RE, Hughes AR, Cebrian J, Deis DR, Rutherford N, Roberts BJ. Meta-analysis of salt marsh vegetation impacts and recovery: a synthesis following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2022; 32:e02489. [PMID: 34741358 PMCID: PMC9285535 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2489] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2020] [Revised: 08/13/2021] [Accepted: 09/09/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Marine oil spills continue to be a global issue, heightened by spill events such as the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the largest marine oil spill in US waters and among the largest worldwide, affecting over 1,000 km of sensitive wetland shorelines, primarily salt marshes supporting numerous ecosystem functions. To synthesize the effects of the oil spill on foundational vegetation species in the salt marsh ecosystem, Spartina alterniflora and Juncus roemerianus, we performed a meta-analysis using data from 10 studies and 255 sampling sites over seven years post-spill. We examined the hypotheses that the oil spill reduced plant cover, stem density, vegetation height, aboveground biomass, and belowground biomass, and tracked the degree of effects temporally to estimate recovery time frames. All plant metrics indicated impacts from oiling, with 20-100% maximum reductions depending on oiling level and marsh zone. Peak reductions of ~70-90% in total plant cover, total aboveground biomass, and belowground biomass were observed for heavily oiled sites at the marsh edge. Both Spartina and Juncus were impacted, with Juncus affected to a greater degree. Most plant metrics had recovery time frames of three years or longer, including multiple metrics with incomplete recovery over the duration of our data, at least seven years post-spill. Belowground biomass was particularly concerning, because it declined over time in contrast with recovery trends in most aboveground metrics, serving as a strong indicator of ongoing impact, limited recovery, and impaired resilience. We conclude that the Deepwater Horizon spill had multiyear impacts on salt marsh vegetation, with full recovery likely to exceed 10 years, particularly in heavily oiled marshes, where erosion may preclude full recovery. Vegetation impacts and delayed recovery is likely to have exerted substantial influences on ecosystem processes and associated species, especially along heavily oiled shorelines. Our synthesis affords a greater understanding of ecosystem impacts and recovery following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and informs environmental impact analysis, contingency planning, emergency response, damage assessment, and restoration efforts related to oil spills.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Scott Zengel
- Research Planning, Inc. (RPI)TallahasseeFlorida32303USA
| | | | | | - Sean A. Graham
- Gulf South Research CorporationBaton RougeLouisiana70820USA
| | - Qianxin Lin
- Louisiana State UniversityBaton RougeLouisiana70803USA
| | - Mark W. Hester
- University of Louisiana at LafayetteLafayetteLouisiana70504USA
| | | | | | | | | | - Nancy N. Rabalais
- Louisiana State UniversityBaton RougeLouisiana70803USA
- Louisiana Universities Marine ConsortiumChauvinLouisiana70344USA
| | | | - A. Randall Hughes
- Northeastern University Marine Science CenterNahantMassachusetts01908USA
| | - Just Cebrian
- Northern Gulf InstituteStennis Space CenterMississippi State UniversityStarkvilleMississippi39529USA
| | | | - Nicolle Rutherford
- National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)SeattleWashington98115USA
| | - Brian J. Roberts
- Louisiana Universities Marine ConsortiumChauvinLouisiana70344USA
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Bernhard AE, Beltz J, Giblin AE, Roberts BJ. Biogeography of ammonia oxidizers in New England and Gulf of Mexico salt marshes and the potential importance of comammox. ISME COMMUNICATIONS 2021; 1:9. [PMID: 36717686 PMCID: PMC9723745 DOI: 10.1038/s43705-021-00008-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2020] [Revised: 02/19/2021] [Accepted: 02/25/2021] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
Few studies have focused on broad scale biogeographic patterns of ammonia oxidizers in coastal systems, yet understanding the processes that govern them is paramount to understanding the mechanisms that drive biodiversity, and ultimately impact ecosystem processes. Here we present a meta-analysis of 16 years of data of ammonia oxidizer abundance, diversity, and activity in New England (NE) salt marshes and 5 years of data from marshes in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Potential nitrification rates were more than 80x higher in GoM compared to NE marshes. However, nitrifier abundances varied between regions, with ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and comammox bacteria significantly greater in GoM, while ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) were more than 20x higher in NE than GoM. Total bacterial 16S rRNA genes were also significantly greater in GoM marshes. Correlation analyses of rates and abundance suggest that AOA and comammox are more important in GoM marshes, whereas AOB are more important in NE marshes. Furthermore, ratios of nitrifiers to total bacteria in NE were as much as 80x higher than in the GoM, suggesting differences in the relative importance of nitrifiers between these systems. Communities of AOA and AOB were also significantly different between the two regions, based on amoA sequences and DNA fingerprints (terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism). Differences in rates and abundances may be due to differences in salinity, temperature, and N loading between the regions, and suggest significantly different N cycling dynamics in GoM and NE marshes that are likely driven by strong environmental differences between the regions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- A E Bernhard
- Department of Biology, Connecticut College, New London, CT, USA.
| | - J Beltz
- Department of Biology, Connecticut College, New London, CT, USA
- School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - A E Giblin
- Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA, USA
| | - B J Roberts
- Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, Chauvin, LA, USA
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Liu W, Pennings SC. Variation in synchrony of production among species, sites, and intertidal zones in coastal marshes. Ecology 2020; 102:e03278. [PMID: 33370500 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.3278] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2020] [Revised: 09/21/2020] [Accepted: 10/26/2020] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
Spatially synchronous population dynamics are important to ecosystem functioning and have several potential causes. By looking at synchrony in plant productivity over 18 yr across two elevations in three types of coastal marsh habitat dominated by different clonal plant species in Georgia, USA, we were able to explore the importance of plant species and different habitat conditions to synchrony. Synchrony was highest when comparing within a plant species and within a marsh zone, and decreased across species, with increasing distance, and with increasing elevational differences. Abiotic conditions that were measured at individual sites (water column temperature and salinity) also showed high synchrony among sites, and in one case (salinity) decreased with increasing distance among sites. The Moran effect (synchronous abiotic conditions among sites) is the most plausible explanation for our findings. Decreased synchrony between creekbank and mid-marsh zones, and among habitat types (tidal fresh, brackish, and salt marsh) was likely due in part to different exposure to abiotic conditions and in part to variation in sensitivity of dominant plant species to these abiotic conditions. We found no evidence for asynchrony among species, sites or zones, indicating that one habitat type or zone will not compensate for poor production in another during years with low productivity; however, tidal fresh, brackish. and salt marsh sites were also not highly synchronous with each other, which will moderate productivity variation among years at the landscape level due to the portfolio effect. We identified the creekbank zone as more sensitive than the mid-marsh to abiotic variation and therefore as a priority for monitoring and management.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Wenwen Liu
- Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education for Coastal and Wetland Ecosystems, College of the Environment and Ecology, Xiamen University, Fujian, 361102, China.,Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, 77204, USA
| | - Steven C Pennings
- Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, 77204, USA
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Ma X, Yan J, Wang F, Qiu D, Jiang X, Liu Z, Sui H, Bai J, Cui B. Trait and density responses of Spartina alterniflora to inundation in the Yellow River Delta, China. MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN 2019; 146:857-864. [PMID: 31426229 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.07.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2019] [Revised: 07/09/2019] [Accepted: 07/09/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Understanding plant traits in response to physical stress has been an important issue in the study of coastal saltmarshes. For plants that reproduce both sexually and asexually, whether and how seedlings (sexual reproduction) and clonal ramets (asexual reproduction) may differentially respond to tidal inundation is still unclear. We investigated the growth and morphology of sexual and asexual propagules of an exotic saltmarsh plant (Spartina alterniflora) along a gradient of tidal submergence in the Yellow River Delta. Our results showed that the density, height and basal diameter of clonal ramets or sexual seedlings increased with tidal inundation. The patch amplification edge clonal ramets are superior than patch center plants. The differences response of plants to tidal inundation highlight the sensitivity of S. alterniflora to future tidal regime shifts and can help predict and evaluate the impacts of changes in inundation conditions due to sea level rise, coastal erosion and human activities.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xu Ma
- State Key Laboratory of Water Environmental Simulation, School of Environment, Beijing NormalUniversity, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Jiaguo Yan
- State Key Laboratory of Water Environmental Simulation, School of Environment, Beijing NormalUniversity, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Fangfang Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Water Environmental Simulation, School of Environment, Beijing NormalUniversity, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Dongdong Qiu
- State Key Laboratory of Water Environmental Simulation, School of Environment, Beijing NormalUniversity, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Xingpei Jiang
- State Key Laboratory of Water Environmental Simulation, School of Environment, Beijing NormalUniversity, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Zezheng Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Water Environmental Simulation, School of Environment, Beijing NormalUniversity, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Haochen Sui
- State Key Laboratory of Water Environmental Simulation, School of Environment, Beijing NormalUniversity, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Junhong Bai
- State Key Laboratory of Water Environmental Simulation, School of Environment, Beijing NormalUniversity, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Baoshan Cui
- State Key Laboratory of Water Environmental Simulation, School of Environment, Beijing NormalUniversity, Beijing 100875, China.
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Hill TD, Sommer NR, Kanaskie CR, Santos EA, Oczkowski AJ. Nitrogen and carbon concentrations and stable isotope ratios: Data from a 15N tracer study in short-form Spartina alterniflora and Distichlis spicata. Data Brief 2018; 21:466-472. [PMID: 30364832 PMCID: PMC6198123 DOI: 10.1016/j.dib.2018.09.133] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2018] [Revised: 08/22/2018] [Accepted: 09/30/2018] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
We present four datasets that provide information on primary production, nitrogen (N) uptake and allocation in two salt marsh grasses, short-form Spartina alterniflora and Distichlis spicata. These four datasets were generated during a month-long stable isotope (15N) tracer study described in the companion manuscript (Hill et al., 2018). They include an allometry dataset containing mass and height data for individual plants harvested from Colt State Park, Bristol, Rhode Island and used to nondestructively estimate plant masses. A second dataset contains weekly stem height measurements collected over the course of the 15N tracer study. Also included are high resolution data from 49 vegetated compartments (leaves, stems, fine/coarse roots, rhizomes) and bulk sediment depth intervals, reporting the mass, carbon and N concentrations, and stable isotope ratios measured following the harvest of cores over time. Additionally, we provide a complementary dataset with estimates of microbial removal from potential and ambient denitrification enzyme assays. These data, along with source code used in their analysis, are compiled in the NitrogenUptake2016 R package available from the Comprehensive R Archive Network.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Troy D. Hill
- United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Narragansett, RI, United States
| | - Nathalie R. Sommer
- Yale University, School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Caroline R. Kanaskie
- University of New Hampshire, Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, Durham, NH, United States
| | - Emily A. Santos
- Humboldt State University, College of Natural Resources and Sciences, Arcata, CA, United States
| | - Autumn J. Oczkowski
- United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Narragansett, RI, United States
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Hill TD, Sommer NR, Kanaskie CR, Santos EA, Oczkowski AJ. Nitrogen uptake and allocation estimates for Spartina alterniflora and Distichlis spicata. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL MARINE BIOLOGY AND ECOLOGY 2018; 21:466-472. [PMID: 31296971 PMCID: PMC6621564 DOI: 10.1016/j.jembe.2018.07.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
Salt marshes have the potential to intercept nitrogen that could otherwise impact coastal water quality. Salt marsh plants play a central role in nutrient interception by retaining N in above- and belowground tissues. We examine N uptake and allocation in two dominant salt marsh plants, short-form Spartina alterniflora and Distichlis spicata. Nitrogen uptake was measured using 15N tracer experiments conducted over a four-week period, supplemented with stem-level growth rates, primary production, and microbial denitrification assays. By varying experiment duration, we identify the importance of a rarely-measured aspect of experimental design in 15N tracer studies. Experiment duration had a greater impact on quantitative N uptake estimates than primary production or stem-level relative growth rates. Rapid initial scavenging of added 15N caused apparent nitrogen uptake rates to decline by a factor of two as experiment duration increased from one week to one month, although each experiment shared the qualitative conclusion that Distichlis roots scavenged N approximately twice as rapidly as Spartina. We estimate total N uptake into above- and belowground tissues as 154 and 277 mg N·m-2·d-1 for Spartina and Distichlis, respectively. Driving this pattern were higher N content in Distichlis leaves and belowground tissue and strong differences in primary production; Spartina and Distichlis produced 8.8 and 14.7 g biomass·m-2·d-1. Denitrification potentials were similar in sediment associated with both species, but the strong species-specific difference in N uptake suggests that Distichlis-dominated marshes are likely to intercept more N from coastal waters than are short-form Spartina marshes. The data and source code for this manuscript are available as an R package from https://github.com/troyhill/NitrogenUptake2016.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Troy D. Hill
- United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, 27 Tarzwell Drive, Narragansett, RI 02882, United States
| | - Nathalie R. Sommer
- Yale University, School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, 205 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06511, United States
| | - Caroline R. Kanaskie
- University of New Hampshire, Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, 46 College Road, Durham, NH 03824, United States
| | - Emily A. Santos
- Humboldt State University, College of Natural Resources and Sciences, 1 Harpst Street, Arcata, CA, 95521, United States
| | - Autumn J. Oczkowski
- United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, 27 Tarzwell Drive, Narragansett, RI 02882, United States
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Hill TD, Roberts BJ. Effects of seasonality and environmental gradients on Spartina alterniflora allometry and primary production. Ecol Evol 2017; 7:9676-9688. [PMID: 29187999 PMCID: PMC5696422 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.3494] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2017] [Revised: 08/25/2017] [Accepted: 09/02/2017] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Predictions of how salt marsh primary production and carbon storage will respond to environmental change can be improved through detailed datasets documenting responses to real-world environmental variation. To address a shortage of detailed studies of natural variation, we examined drivers of Spartina alterniflora stem allometry and productivity in seven marshes across three regions in southern Louisiana. Live-stem allometry varied spatially and seasonally, generally with short stems weighing more (and tall stems weighing less) in the summer and fall, differences that persist even after correcting for flowering. Strong predictive relationships exist between allometry parameters representing emergent stem mass and mass accumulation rates, suggesting that S. alterniflora populations navigate a trade-off between larger mass at emergence and faster rates of biomass accumulation. Aboveground production and belowground production were calculated using five and four approaches, respectively. End-of-season aboveground biomass was a poor proxy for increment-based production measures. Aboveground production (Smalley) ranged from 390 to 3,350 g m-2 year-1 across all marshes and years. Belowground production (max-min) was on average three times higher than aboveground; total production ranged from 1,400 to 8,500 g m-2 year-1. Above- and belowground production were both positively correlated with dissolved nutrient concentrations and negatively correlated to salinity. SYNTHESIS Interannual variation in water quality is sufficient to drive above- and belowground productivity. The positive relationship between nutrients and belowground production indicates that inputs of nutrients and freshwater may increase salt marsh carbon storage and ecosystem resilience to sea level rise.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Troy D Hill
- Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium Chauvin LA USA
| | | |
Collapse
|