Wetland Biomass and Productivity in Coastal Louisiana: Base Line Data (1976–2015) and Knowledge Gaps for the Development of Spatially Explicit Models for Ecosystem Restoration and Rehabilitation Initiatives

Practical Guide to Measuring Wetland Carbon Pools and Fluxes

Wetlands cover a small portion of the world, but have disproportionate influence on global carbon (C) sequestration, carbon dioxide and methane emissions, and aquatic C fluxes. However, the underlying biogeochemical processes that affect wetland C pools and fluxes are complex and dynamic, making measurements of wetland C challenging. Over decades of research, many observational, experimental, and analytical approaches have been developed to understand and quantify pools and fluxes of wetland C. Sampling approaches range in their representation of wetland C from short to long timeframes and local to landscape spatial scales. This review summarizes common and cutting-edge methodological approaches for quantifying wetland C pools and fluxes. We first define each of the major C pools and fluxes and provide rationale for their importance to wetland C dynamics. For each approach, we clarify what component of wetland C is measured and its spatial and temporal representativeness and constraints. We describe practical considerations for each approach, such as where and when an approach is typically used, who can conduct the measurements (expertise, training requirements), and how approaches are conducted, including considerations on equipment complexity and costs. Finally, we review key covariates and ancillary measurements that enhance the interpretation of findings and facilitate model development. The protocols that we describe to measure soil, water, vegetation, and gases are also relevant for related disciplines such as ecology. Improved quality and consistency of data collection and reporting across studies will help reduce global uncertainties and develop management strategies to use wetlands as nature-based climate solutions.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13157-023-01722-2.

Dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA) is marginal relative to denitrification in emerging-eroding wetlands in a subtropical oligohaline and eutrophic coastal delta

Nitrate (NO₃^-) and ammonium (NH₄⁺) are reactive nitrogen (N_r) forms that can exacerbate eutrophication in coastal regions. NO₃^- can be lost to the atmosphere as N₂ gas driven by direct denitrification, coupled nitrification-denitrification and annamox or retained within the ecosystems through conversion of NO₃^- to NH₄⁺ via dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA). Denitrification and DNRA are competitive pathways and hence it is critical to evaluate their functional biogeochemical role. However, there is limited information about the environmental factors driving DNRA in oligohaline habitats, especially within deltaic regions where steep salinity gradients define wetland spatiotemporal distribution. Here we use the Isotope Pairing Technique to evaluate the effect of temperature (10, 20, 30 °C) and in situ soil/sediment organic matter (OM%) on total denitrification (Dtotal = direct + coupled nitrification) and DNRA rates in oligohaline forested/marsh wetlands soils and benthic sediment habitats at two sites representing prograding (Wax Lake Delta, WLD) and eroding (Barataria- Lake Cataouatche, BLC) deltaic stages in the Mississippi River Delta Plain (MRDP). Both sites receive MR water with high NO₃^- (>40 μM) concentrations during the year via river diversions. Denitrification rates were significantly higher (range: 18.0 ± 0.4-113.0 ± 10.6 μmol m^-2 h^-1) than DNRA rates (range: 0.7 ± 0.2-9.2 ± 0.3 μmol m^-2 h^-1). Therefore, DNRA represented on average < 10% of the total NO₃^- reduction (DNRA + Dtotal). Unlike denitrification, DNRA showed no consistent response to temperature. These results indicate that DNRA in wetland soils and benthic sediment is not a major nitrogen transformation in oligohaline regions across the MRDP regardless of wide range of OM% content in these eroding and prograding delta lobes.

Water Circulation Driven by Cold Fronts in the Wax Lake Delta (Louisiana, USA)

Atmospheric cold fronts can periodically generate storm surges and affect sediment transport in the Northern Gulf of Mexico (NGOM). In this paper, we evaluate water circulation spatiotemporal patterns induced by six atmospheric cold front events in the Wax Lake Delta (WLD) in coastal Louisiana using the 3-D hydrodynamic model ECOM-si. Model simulations show that channelized and inter-distributary water flow is significantly impacted by cold fronts. Water volume transport throughout the deltaic channel network is not just constrained to the main channels but also occurs laterally across channels accounting for about a quarter of the total flow. Results show that a significant landward flow occurs across the delta prior to the frontal passage, resulting in a positive storm surge on the coast. The along-channel current velocity dominates while cross-channel water transport occurs at the southwest lobe during the post-frontal stage. Depending on local weather conditions, the cold-front-induced flushing event lasts for 1.7 to 7 days and can flush 32–76% of the total water mass out of the system, a greater range of variability than previous reports. The magnitude of water flushed out of the system is not necessarily dependent on the duration of the frontal events. An energy partitioning analysis shows that the relative importance of subtidal energy (10–45% of the total) and tidal energy (20–70%) varies substantially from station to station and is linked to the weather impact. It is important to note that within the WLD region, the weather-induced subtidal energy (46–66% of the total) is much greater than the diurnal tidal energy (13–25% of the total). The wind associated with cold fronts in winter is the main factor controlling water circulation in the WLD and is a major driver in the spatial configureuration of the channel network and delta progradation rates.

Carbon Balance in Salt Marsh and Mangrove Ecosystems: A Global Synthesis

Mangroves and salt marshes are among the most productive ecosystems in the global coastal ocean. Mangroves store more carbon (739 Mg CORG ha−1) than salt marshes (334 Mg CORG ha−1), but the latter sequester proportionally more (24%) net primary production (NPP) than mangroves (12%). Mangroves exhibit greater rates of gross primary production (GPP), aboveground net primary production (AGNPP) and plant respiration (RC), with higher PGPP/RC ratios, but salt marshes exhibit greater rates of below-ground NPP (BGNPP). Mangroves have greater rates of subsurface DIC production and, unlike salt marshes, exhibit active microbial decomposition to a soil depth of 1 m. Salt marshes release more CH4 from soil and creek waters and export more dissolved CH4, but mangroves release more CO2 from tidal waters and export greater amounts of particulate organic carbon (POC), dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), to adjacent waters. Both ecosystems contribute only a small proportion of GPP, RE (ecosystem respiration) and NEP (net ecosystem production) to the global coastal ocean due to their small global area, but contribute 72% of air–sea CO2 exchange of the world’s wetlands and estuaries and contribute 34% of DIC export and 17% of DOC + POC export to the world’s coastal ocean. Thus, both wetland ecosystems contribute disproportionately to carbon flow of the global coastal ocean.

The Impact of Biophysical Processes on Sediment Transport in the Wax Lake Delta (Louisiana, USA)

Sediment transport in coastal regions is regulated by the interaction of river discharge, wind, waves, and tides, yet the role of vegetation in this interaction is not well understood. Here, we evaluated these variables using multiple acoustic and optical sensors deployed for 30–60 days in spring and summer/fall 2015 at upstream and downstream stations in Mike Island, a deltaic island within the Wax Lake Delta, LA, USA. During a flooding stage, semidiurnal and diurnal tidal impact was minimal on an adjacent river channel, but significant in Mike Island where vegetation biomass was low and wave influence was greater downstream. During summer/fall, a “vegetated channel” constricted the water flow, decreasing current speeds from ~13 cm/s upstream to nearly zero downstream. Synchrony between the upstream and downstream water levels in spring (R2 = 0.91) decreased in summer/fall (R2 = 0.84) due to dense vegetation, which also reduced the wave heights from 3–20 cm (spring) to nearly 0 cm (summer/fall). Spatial and temporal differences in total inorganic nitrogen and orthophosphate concentrations in the overlying and sediment porewater were evident as result of vegetation growth and expansion during summer/fall. This study provides key hourly/daily data and information needed to improve the parameterization of biophysical models in coastal wetland restoration projects.