Importance of intertidal sediment processes and porewater exchange on the water column biogeochemistry in a pristine mangrove creek (Ras Dege, Tanzania)
Bouillon, Steven; Middelburg, Jack J.; Dehairs, Franket al.
[en] We sampled a tidal creek (Ras Dege, Tanzania) during a 24-h cycle to document the variations in a suite of creek water column characteristics and to determine the relative influence of tidal and biological driving forces. Since the creek has no upstream freshwater inputs, highest salinity was observed at low tide, due to evaporation effects and porewater seepage. Total suspended matter (TSM) and particulate organic carbon (POC) showed distinct maxima at periods of highest water flow, indicating that erosion of surface sediments and/or resuspension of bottom sediments were an
important source of particulate material. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC), in contrast, varied in phase with water height and was highest at low tide. Stable isotope data of POC and DOC displayed large variations in both pools, and similarly followed the variations in water height. Although the variation of 13CDOC (−23.8 to −13.8‰) was higher than that of 13CPOC (−26.2 to −20.5‰), due to the different endmember pool sizes, the 13C signatures of both pools differed only slightly at low tide, but up to 9‰ at high tide. Thus, at low tide both DOC and POC originated from mangrove production. At high tide, however, the DOC pool had signatures consistent with a high contribution of seagrass-derived material, whereas the POC pool was dominated by marine phytoplankton. Daily variations in CH4, and partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) were similarly governed by tidal influence and
were up to 7- and 10-fold higher at low tide, which stresses the importance of exchange of porewater and diffusive fluxes to the water column. When assuming that the high dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) levels in the upper parts of the creek (i.e. at low tide) are due to inputs from mineralization, 13C data on DIC indicate that the organic matter source for mineralization had a signature of −22.4‰. Hence, imported POC and DOC from the marine environment contributes strongly to overall mineralization within the mangrove system. Our data demonstrate how biogeochemical processes in the intertidal zone appear to be prominent drivers of element concentrations and isotope signatures in the water column, and how pathways of dissolved and particulate matter transport are fundamentally different.
Research Center/Unit :
FOCUS - Freshwater and OCeanic science Unit of reSearch - ULiège
Disciplines :
Aquatic sciences & oceanology
Author, co-author :
Bouillon, Steven; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'astrophys., géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Océanographie chimique
Importance of intertidal sediment processes and porewater exchange on the water column biogeochemistry in a pristine mangrove creek (Ras Dege, Tanzania)
Publication date :
2007
Journal title :
Biogeosciences
ISSN :
1726-4170
eISSN :
1726-4189
Publisher :
European Geosciences Union, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany
Alongi, D. M.: Present state and future of the world's mangrove forests, Environ. Conserv., 29, 331-349, 2005.
Alongi, D. M., Sasekumar, A., Chong, V. C., Pfitzner, J., Trott, L. A., Tirendi, F., Dixon, P., and Brunskill, G. J.: Sediment accumulation and organic material flux in a managed mangrove ecosystem: estimates of land-ocean- atmosphere exchange in peninsular Malaysia, Mar. Geol., 208, 383-402, 2004.
Alongi, D. M., Clough, B. F., and Robertson, A. I.: Nutrient-use efficiency in arid-zone forests of the mangroves Rhizophora stylosa and Avicennia marina, Aquat. Bot., 82, 121-131, 2005.
Alongi, D. M., Pfitzner, J., Trott, L. A., Dixon, P., and Klumpp, D. W.: Rapid sediment accumulation and microbial mineralization in forests of the mangrove Kandelia candel in the Jiulongjiang estuary, China, Estuar. Coast. Shelf Sci., 63, 605-618, 2005.
Bartlett, K. B. and Harriss, R. C.: Review and assessment of methane emissions from wetlands, Chemosphere, 26, 261-320, 1993.
Barnes, J., Ramesh, R., Purvaja, R., Nirmal Rajkumar, A., Senthil Kumar, B., Krithika, K., Ravichandran, K., Uher, G., and Upstill-Goddard, R.: Tidal dynamics and rainfall control N2O and CH4 emmissions from a pristine mangrove creek, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L15405, doi:10.1029/ 2006GL026829, 2006.
Billerbeck, M., Werner, U., Bosselmann, K., Walpersdorf, E., and Huettel, M.: Nutrient release from an exposed intertidal sand flat, Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser., 316, 35-51, 2006a.
Billerbeck, M., Werner, U., Polerecky, L., Walpersdorf, E., deBeer, D., and Huettel, M.: Surficial and deep pore water circulation governs spatial and temportal scales of nutrient recycling in intertidal sand flat sediments, Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser., 326, 61-76, 2006b.
Biswas, H., Mukhopadhyay, S. K., Sen, S., and Jana, T. K.: Spatial and temporal patterns of methane dynamics in the tropical mangrove dominated estuary, NE coast of Bay of Bengal, India, J. Mar. Syst., doi:10.1016/j.jmarsys. 2006.11.001, 2006.
Borges, A. V.: Do we have enough pieces of the jigsaw to integrate CO2 fluxes in the Coastal Ocean?, Estuaries, 28, 3-27, 2005.
Borges, A. V., Djenidi, S., Lacroix, G., Théate, J., Delille, B., and Frankignoulle, M.: Atmospheric CO2 flux from mangrove surrounding waters, Geophys. Res. Lett., 30, 1558, doi:10.1029/ 2003GL017143, 2003.
Boto, K. G. and Bunt, J. S.: Tidal export of particulate organic matter from a northern Australian mangrove system, Estuar. Coast. Shelf Sci., 13, 247-255, 1981.
Bouillon, S., Frankignoulle, M., Dehairs, F., Velimirov, B., Eiler, A., Etcheber, H., Abril, G., and Borges, A. V.: Inorganic and organic carbon biogeochemistry in the Gautami Godavari estuary (Andhra Pradesh, India) during pre-monsoon: the local impact of extensive mangrove forests, Global Biogeochem. Cy., 17, 1114, doi:10.1029/2002GB002026, 2003.
Bouillon, S., Moens, T., and Dehairs, F.: Carbon sources sustaining benthic mineralization in mangrove and adjacent seagrass sediments (Gazi bay, Kenya), Biogeosciences, 1, 71-78, 2004, http://www.biogeosciences.net/1/71/2004/ .
Bouillon, S., Korntheuer, M., Baeyens, W., and Dehairs, F.: A new automated setup for stable isotope analysis of dissolved organic carbon, Limnol. Oceanogr.: Methods, 4, 216-226, 2006.
Bouillon, S., Connolly, R., and Lee, S. Y.: Carbon exchange and cycling in mangrove ecosystems: a synthesis of recent insights based on stable isotope studies, J. Sea Res., doi:10.1016/j.seares.2007.05.001, in press, 2007a.
Bouillon, S., Dehairs, F., Schiettecatte, L.-S., and Borges, A. V.: Biogeochemistry of the Tana estuary and delta (northern Kenya), Limnol. Oceanogr., 52, 46-59, 2007b.
Cai, W.-J., Pomeroy, L. R., Moran, M. A., and Wang, Y.: Oxygen and carbon dioxide mass balance for the estuarine-intertidal marsh complex of five rivers in the southeastern U.S., Limnol. Oceanogr., 44, 639-649, 1999.
Cai, W.-J., Wiebe, W. J., Wang, Y., and Sheldon, J. E.: Intertidal marsh as a source of dissolved inorganic carbon and a sink of nitrate in the satilla river-estuarine complex in the southeastern U.S. Limnol. Oceanogr., 45, 1743-1752, 2000.
Davis, S. E., Childers, D. L., Day, J. W., Rudnick, D. T., and Sklar, R H.: Wetland-water column exchanges of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in a southern Everglades dwarf mangrove, Estuaries, 24, 610-622, 2001.
Dittmar, T. and Lara, R. J.: Driving forces behind nutrient and organic matter dynamics in a mangrove tidal creek in North Brazil, Estuar. Coast. Shelf Sci., 52, 249-259, 2001.
Dittmar, T., Hertkorn, N., Kattner, G., and Lara, R. J.: Mangroves, a major source of dissolved organic carbon to the oceans, Global Biogeochem. Cy., 20, GB1012, doi:10.1029/2005GB002570, 2006.
Duarte, C. M., Middelburg, J. J., and Caraco, N.: Major role of marine vegetation on the oceanic carbon cycle, Biogeosciences, 2, 1-8, 2005, http://www.biogeosciences.net/2/1/2005/.
Flindt, M. R., Neto, J., Amos, C. L., Pardal, M. A., Bergamasco, A., Pedersen, C. B., and Andersen, F.Ø .: Plant bound nutrient transport. Mass transport in estuaries and lagoons, in: Estuarine nutrient cycling: the influence of primary producers. The fate of nutrient biomass, edited by: Nielsen, S. L., Banta, G. T., and Pedersen, M. F., Series: Aquatic Ecology, Vol. 2, 2004.
Flindt, M. R., Pedersen, C. B., Amos, C. L., Levy, A., Bergamasco, A., and Friend, P. L.: Transport, sloughing and settling rates of estuarine macrophytes: mechanisms and ecological implications Cont. Shelf Res., 27, 1096-1103, 2007.
Fontugne, M. R. and Duplessy, J. C.: Organic carbon isotopic fractionation by marine plankton in the temperature range -1 to 31°C, Oceanol. Acta, 4, 85-90, 1981.
Frankignoulle, M. and Borges, A. V.: Direct and indirect pCO2 measurements in a wide range of pCO2 and salinity values (the Scheldt estuary), Aquat. Geochem., 7, 267-273, 2001.
Gattuso, J.-P., Frankignoulle, M., and Wollast, R.: Carbon and carbonate metabolism in coastal aquatic ecosystems, Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst., 29, 405-433, 1998.
Giani, L., Bashan, Y., Holguin, G., and Strangmann, A.: Characteristics and methanogenesis of the Balandra lagoon mangrove soils, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Geoderma, 72, 149-160, 1996.
Gribsholt, B., Boschker, H. T. S., Struyf, E., Andersson, M., Tramper, A., De Brabandere, L., Van Damme, S., Brion, N., Meire, P., Dehairs, F., Middelburg, J. J., and Heip, C.: Nitrogen processing in a tidal freshwater marsh: a whole ecosystem 15N labeling study, Limnol. Oceanogr., 50, 1945-1959, 2005.
Hall, P. O. and Aller, R. C.: Rapid, small-volume, flow injection analysis for ECO2 and NH4+ in marine and freshwaters, Limnol. Oceanogr., 37, 1113-1119, 1992.
Jennerjahn, T. C. and Ittekkot, V.: Relevance of mangroves for the production and deposition of organic matter along tropical continental margins, Naturwissenschaften, 89, 23-30, 2002.
Kitheka, J. U.: Water circulation and coastal trapping of brackish water in a tropical mangrove-dominated bay in Kenya, Limnol. Oceanogr., 41, 169-176, 1996.
Kitheka, J. U., Ongwenyi, G. S., and Mavuti, K. M.: Dynamics of suspended sediment exchange and transport in a degraded mangrove creek in Kenya, Ambio, 31, 580-587, 2002.
Kristensen, E., Andersen, F. O., Holmboe, N., Holmer, M., and Thongtham, N.: Carbon and nitrogen mineralization in sediments of the Bangrong mangrove area, Phuket, Thailand, Aquat. Microb. Ecol., 22, 199-213, 2000.
Kristensen, E. and Suraswadi, P.: Carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus dynamics in creek water of a southeast Asian mangrove forest, Hydrobiologia, 474, 197-211, 2002.
Kristensen, E. and Alongi, D. M.: Control by fiddler crabs (Uca vocans) and plant roots (Avicennia marina) on carbon, iron and sulfur biogeochemistry in mangrove sediment, Limnol. Oceanogr., 51, 1557-1571, 2006.
Kruitwagen, G., Hecht, T., Pratap, H. B., and Wendelaar Bonga, S. E.: Changes in morphology and growth of the mudskipper (Periophthalmus argentilineatus) associated with coastal pollution, Mar. Biol., 149, 201-211, 2005.
Lee, S. Y: Mangrove outwelling: a review, Hydrobiologia, 295, 203-212, 1995.
Lee, S. Y.: Potential trophic importance of the faecal material of the mangrove sesarmine crab Sesarma messa, Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser., 159, 275-284, 1997.
Lee, S. Y.: Ecological role of grapsid crabs in mangrove ecosystems: a review, Mar. Freshwater Res., 49, 335-343, 1998.
Ludwig, W., Probst, J. L., and Kempe, S.: Predicting the oceanic input of organic carbon by continental erosion, Global Biogeochem. Cy., 10, 23-41, 1996.
Macia, A.: Primary carbon sources for juvenile penaeid shrimps in a mangrove-fringed Bay of Inhaca Island, Mozambique: a dual carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis, W. Ind. Ocean J. Mar. Sci., 3, 151-161, 1995.
Marchand, C., Lallier-Vergès, E., and Baltzer, F.: The composition of sedimentary organic matter in relation to the dynamic features of a mangrove-fringed coast in French Guiana, Estuar. Coast. Shelf Sci., 56, 119-130, 2003.
Marchand, C., Albéric, P., Lallier-Vergès, E., and Baltzer, F.: Distribution and characteristics of dissolved organic matter in mangrove sediment pore waters along the coastline of French Guiana, Biogeochem., 81, 59-75, 2006.
Mazda, Y. and Ikeda, Y.: Behavior of the groundwater in a riverinetype mangrove forest, Well. Ecol. Manag., 14, 477-488, 2006.
McClain, M. E. Boyer, E. W., Dent, L., Gergel, S. E., Grimm, N. B., Groffman, P. M., Hart, S. C., Harvey, J. W., Johnston, C. A., Mayorga, E., McDowell, W. H., and Pinay, G.: Biogeochemical hot spots and hot moments at the interface of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, Ecosystems, 6, 301-312, 2003.
Middelburg, J. J., Duarte, C. M., and Gattuso, J.-P.: Respiration in coastal benthic communities, in: Respiration in aquatic ecosystems, edited by: del Giorgio, P. A. and Williams, P. J. le B., Oxford Univ. Press, 2005.
Miyajima, T., Yamada, Y., Hanba, Y. T., Yoshii, K., Koitabashi, T., and Wada, E.: Determining the stable-isotope ratio of total dissolved inorganic carbon in lake water by GC/C/IRMS, Limnol. Oceanogr., 40, 994-1000, 1995.
Neubauer, S. C. and Anderson, I. C.: Transport of dissolved inorganic carbon from a tidal freshwater marsh to the York River estuary, Limnol. Oceanogr., 48, 299-307, 2003.
Ovalle, A. R. C, Rezende, C. E., Lacerda, L. D., and Siluva, C. A. R.: Factors affecting the hydrochemistry of a mangrove tidal creek, Sepetiba Bay, Brazil, Estuar. Coast. Shelf Sci., 31, 639-650, 1990.
Purvaja, R. and Ramesh, R.: Natural and anthropogenic methane emission from wetlands of south India, Environ. Manag., 27, 547-557, 2001.
Purvaja, R., Ramesh, R., and Frenzel, P.: Plant-mediated methane emission from an Indian mangrove, Global Change Biol., 10, 1825-1834, 2004.
Raymond, P. A. and Cole, J. J.: Gas exchange in rivers and estuaries: choosing a gas transfer velocity, Estuaries, 24, 312-317, 2001.
Ridd, P. V.: Flow through animal burrows in mangrove creeks, Estuar. Coast. Shelf Sci., 43, 617-625, 1996.
Sotomayor, D., Corredor, J. E., and Morell, J. M.: Methane flux from mangrove sediments along the Southwestern Coast of Puerto Rico, Estuaries, 17, 140-147, 1994.
Susilo, A. and Ridd, P. V.: The bulk hydraulic conductivity of mangrove soil perforated with animal burrows, Wetl. Ecol. Manag., 13, 123-133, 2005.
Susilo, A., Ridd, P. V., and Thomas, S.: Comparison between tidally driven groundwater flow and flushing of animal burrows in tropical mangrove swamps, Wetl. Ecol. Manag., 13, 377-388, 2005.
Twilley, R. R.: The exchange of organic carbon in basin mangrove forests in a southwest Florida estuary. Estuar. Coast. Shelf Sci., 20, 543-557, 1985.
Victor, S., Golbuu, Y., Wolanski, E., and Richmond, R. H.: Fine sediment trapping in two mangrove-fringed estuaries exposed to contrasting land-use intensity, Palau, Micronesia, Wetl. Ecol. Manag., 12, 277-283, 2004.
Weaver, T. L. and Dugan, P. R.: Enhancement of bacterial methane oxidation by clay minerals, Nature, 237, 518, 1972.
Wolanski, E.: An evaporation-driven salinity maximum in Australian tropical estuaries, Estuar. Coast. Shelf Sci., 22, 415-424, 1986.
Wolanski, E.: Transport of sediment in mangrove swamps, Hydrobiologia, 295, 31-42, 1995.
Yamamoto, S., Alcauskas, J. B., and Crozier, T. E.: Solubility of methane in distilled water and seawater, J. Chem. Eng. Data., 21, 78-80, 1976.
