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

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 767 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel M. Alongi

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.

Author(s):  
Daniel M. Alongi

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), above-ground net primary production (NPP) and plant respiration (RC) with higher PGPP/RC ratios, but salt marshes exhibit greater rates of below-ground NPP. Mangroves have greater rates of subsurface DIC production and, unlike salt marshes, exhibit significant microbial decomposition to a soil depth of 1 m. Salt marshes release more soil CH4 and export more dissolved CH4 , but mangroves release more CO2 from tidal waters and export greater amounts of POC, DOC and 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 from 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.


Author(s):  
Robert Hall ◽  
Jennifer Tank ◽  
Michelle Baker ◽  
Emma Rosi-Marshall ◽  
Michael Grace ◽  
...  

Primary production and respiration are core functions of river ecosystems that in part determine the carbon balance. Gross primary production (GPP) is the total rate of carbon fixation by autotrophs such as algae and higher plants and is equivalent to photosynthesis. Ecosystem respiration (ER) measures rate at which organic carbon is mineralized to CO2 by all organisms in an ecosystem. Together these fluxes can indicate the base of the food web to support animal production (Marcarelli et al. 2011), can predict the cycling of other elements (Hall and Tank 2003), and can link ecosystems to global carbon cycling (Cole et al. 2007).


Author(s):  
Richard T. Corlett

This chapter deals with the ecology of Tropical East Asia from the perspective of water, energy, and matter flows through ecosystems, particularly forests. Data from the network of eddy flux covariance towers is revealing general patterns in gross primary production, ecosystem respiration, and net ecosystem production, and exchange. There is also new information on the patterns of net primary production and biomass within the region. In contrast, our understanding of the role of soil nutrients in tropical forest ecology still relies mostly on work done in the Neotropics, with just enough data from Asia to suggest that the major patterns may be pantropical. Nitrogen and phosphorus have received most attention regionally, followed by calcium, potassium, and magnesium, and there has been very little study of the role of micronutrients and potentially toxic concentrations of aluminium, manganese, and hydrogen ions. Animal nutrition has also been neglected.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaël Many ◽  
Caroline Ulses ◽  
Claude Estournel ◽  
Patrick Marsaleix

Abstract. The Gulf of Lion shelf (NW Mediterranean) is one of the most productive areas in the Mediterranean Sea. A 3D coupled hydrodynamic-biogeochemical model is used to study the mechanisms that drive the particulate organic carbon (POC) budget over the shelf. A set of observations, including temporal series from a coastal station, remote sensing of surface chlorophyll-a, and a glider deployment, is used to validate the distribution of physical and biogeochemical variables from the model. The model reproduces well the time and spatial evolution of temperature, chlorophyll, and nitrate concentrations and shows a clear annual cycle of gross primary production and respiration. Knowing the physical and biogeochemical inputs and outputs terms, the annual budget of the POC in the Gulf of Lion is estimated and discussed. We estimate an annual net primary production of ~200 104 tC yr−1 at the scale of the shelf. The primary production is marked by a coast-slope increase with maximal values in the eastern region. Our results show that the primary production is favored by the inputs of nutrients imported from offshore waters, representing 3 and 15 times the inputs of the Rhône in terms of nitrate and phosphate. Besides, the EOFs decomposition highlights the role of solar radiation anomalies and continental winds that favor upwellings, and inputs of the Rhône River, on annual changes in the net primary production. Annual POC deposition (19 104 tC yr−1) represents 10 % of the net primary production. The delivery of terrestrial POC favored the deposition in front of the Rhône mouth and the mean cyclonic circulation increases the deposition between 30 and 50 m depth from the Rhône prodelta to the west. Mechanisms responsible for POC export (24 104 tC yr−1) to the open sea are discussed. The export off the shelf in the western part, from the Cap de Creus to the Lacaze-Duthiers canyon, represented 37 % of the total POC export. Maximum values were obtained during shelf dense water cascading events and marine winds. Considering surface waters only, the POC was mainly exported in the eastern part of the shelf through shelf waters and Rhône inputs, which spread to the Northern Current during favorable continental wind conditions. The Gulf of Lion shelf appears as an autotrophic ecosystem with a positive Net Ecosystem Production and as a source of POC for the adjacent NW Mediterranean basin. The undergoing and future increase in temperature and stratification induced by climate change could impact the trophic status of the GoL shelf and the carbon export towards the deep basin. It is crucial to develop models to predict and assess these future evolutions.


2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (15) ◽  
pp. 4271-4288 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. B. Fisher ◽  
M. Sikka ◽  
W. C. Oechel ◽  
D. N. Huntzinger ◽  
J. R. Melton ◽  
...  

Abstract. Climate change is leading to a disproportionately large warming in the high northern latitudes, but the magnitude and sign of the future carbon balance of the Arctic are highly uncertain. Using 40 terrestrial biosphere models for the Alaskan Arctic from four recent model intercomparison projects – NACP (North American Carbon Program) site and regional syntheses, TRENDY (Trends in net land atmosphere carbon exchanges), and WETCHIMP (Wetland and Wetland CH4 Inter-comparison of Models Project) – we provide a baseline of terrestrial carbon cycle uncertainty, defined as the multi-model standard deviation (σ) for each quantity that follows. Mean annual absolute uncertainty was largest for soil carbon (14.0 ± 9.2 kg C m−2), then gross primary production (GPP) (0.22 ± 0.50 kg C m−2 yr−1), ecosystem respiration (Re) (0.23 ± 0.38 kg C m−2 yr−1), net primary production (NPP) (0.14 ± 0.33 kg C m−2 yr−1), autotrophic respiration (Ra) (0.09 ± 0.20 kg C m−2 yr−1), heterotrophic respiration (Rh) (0.14 ± 0.20 kg C m−2 yr−1), net ecosystem exchange (NEE) (−0.01 ± 0.19 kg C m−2 yr−1), and CH4 flux (2.52 ± 4.02 g CH4 m−2 yr−1). There were no consistent spatial patterns in the larger Alaskan Arctic and boreal regional carbon stocks and fluxes, with some models showing NEE for Alaska as a strong carbon sink, others as a strong carbon source, while still others as carbon neutral. Finally, AmeriFlux data are used at two sites in the Alaskan Arctic to evaluate the regional patterns; observed seasonal NEE was captured within multi-model uncertainty. This assessment of carbon cycle uncertainties may be used as a baseline for the improvement of experimental and modeling activities, as well as a reference for future trajectories in carbon cycling with climate change in the Alaskan Arctic and larger boreal region.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. e0247165
Author(s):  
Jumpei Toriyama ◽  
Shoji Hashimoto ◽  
Yoko Osone ◽  
Naoyuki Yamashita ◽  
Tatsuya Tsurita ◽  
...  

Spatiotemporal prediction of the response of planted forests to a changing climate is increasingly important for the sustainable management of forest ecosystems. In this study, we present a methodology for estimating spatially varying productivity in a planted forest and changes in productivity with a changing climate in Japan, with a focus on Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica D. Don) as a representative tree species of this region. The process-based model Biome-BGC was parameterized using a plant trait database for Japanese cedar and a Bayesian optimization scheme. To compare productivity under historical (1996–2000) and future (2096–2100) climatic conditions, the climate scenarios of two representative concentration pathways (i.e., RCP2.6 and RCP8.5) were used in five global climate models (GCMs) with approximately 1-km resolution. The seasonality of modeled fluxes, namely gross primary production, ecosystem respiration, net ecosystem exchange, and soil respiration, improved after two steps of parameterization. The estimated net primary production (NPP) of stands aged 36–40 years under the historical climatic conditions of the five GCMs was 0.77 ± 0.10 kgC m-2 year-1 (mean ± standard deviation), in accordance with the geographical distribution of forest NPP estimated in previous studies. Under the RCP2.6 and RCP8.5 scenarios, the mean NPP of the five GCMs increased by 0.04 ± 0.07 and 0.14 ± 0.11 kgC m-2 year-1, respectively. The increases in annual NPP were small in the southwestern region because of the decreases in summer NPP and the small increases in winter NPP under the RCP2.6 and RCP8.5 scenarios, respectively. Under the RCP2.6 scenario, Japanese cedar was at risk in the southwestern region, in accordance with previous studies, and monitoring and silvicultural practices should be modified accordingly.


2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 2887-2932 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. B. Fisher ◽  
M. Sikka ◽  
W. C. Oechel ◽  
D. N. Huntzinger ◽  
J. R. Melton ◽  
...  

Abstract. Climate change is leading to a disproportionately large warming in the high northern latitudes, but the magnitude and sign of the future carbon balance of the Arctic are highly uncertain. Using 40 terrestrial biosphere models for Alaska, we provide a baseline of terrestrial carbon cycle structural and parametric uncertainty, defined as the multi-model standard deviation (σ) against the mean (x) for each quantity. Mean annual uncertainty (σ/x) was largest for net ecosystem exchange (NEE) (−0.01± 0.19 kg C m−2 yr−1), then net primary production (NPP) (0.14 ± 0.33 kg C m−2 yr−1), autotrophic respiration (Ra) (0.09 ± 0.20 kg C m−2 yr−1), gross primary production (GPP) (0.22 ± 0.50 kg C m−2 yr−1), ecosystem respiration (Re) (0.23 ± 0.38 kg C m−2 yr−1), CH4 flux (2.52 ± 4.02 g CH4 m−2 yr−1), heterotrophic respiration (Rh) (0.14 ± 0.20 kg C m−2 yr−1), and soil carbon (14.0± 9.2 kg C m−2). The spatial patterns in regional carbon stocks and fluxes varied widely with some models showing NEE for Alaska as a strong carbon sink, others as a strong carbon source, while still others as carbon neutral. Additionally, a feedback (i.e., sensitivity) analysis was conducted of 20th century NEE to CO2 fertilization (β) and climate (γ), which showed that uncertainty in γ was 2x larger than that of β, with neither indicating that the Alaskan Arctic is shifting towards a certain net carbon sink or source. Finally, AmeriFlux data are used at two sites in the Alaskan Arctic to evaluate the regional patterns; observed seasonal NEE was captured within multi-model uncertainty. This assessment of carbon cycle uncertainties may be used as a baseline for the improvement of experimental and modeling activities, as well as a reference for future trajectories in carbon cycling with climate change in the Alaskan Arctic.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhongkui Luo ◽  
Guocheng Wang ◽  
Liujun Xiao ◽  
Xiali Mao ◽  
Xiaowei Guo ◽  
...  

Abstract The depth distribution of belowground net primary production (BNPP) has been unquantified globally, hindering our understanding of belowground carbon dynamics. We synthesize global observational data sets to infer the depth allocation of BNPP down to 2 m, and map depth-specific BNPP globally at 1 km resolution. We estimate that global average BNPP in the 0–20 soil layer is 1.1 Mg C ha–1 yr–1, accounting for >50% of total BNPP. Across the globe, the depth distribution of BNPP shows large variability, and more BNPP is allocated to deeper layers in hotter and drier regions. Edaphic, climatic and topographic properties (in the order of importance) can explain >80% of such variability in different soil depths; and the direction and magnitude of the influence of individual properties (e.g., precipitation and soil nutrient) are soil depth- and biome-dependent. Our results provide global benchmarks for predictions of whole-soil carbon profiles across global biomes.


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