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Field Observation of Lateral Detritus Carbon Flux in a Coastal Wetland

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Abstract

The lateral transport of carbon has been increasingly recognized as an important component of carbon budget in wetlands. We studied a typical coastal salt marsh located at the estuary of the Yangtze River by measuring lateral transfer of macro-detritus carbon within a creek during each month’s largest spring tide period, and simultaneously, we measured the gross primary production (GPP) by the eddy covariance (EC) method. The results showed a bimodal seasonal pattern of net detritus carbon export, with one peak associated with mainly green/fresh carbon materials and the other peak associated with mainly yellow-dark/senescent carbon materials. We also found that the export of green detritus carbon was highly correlated with plant phenology and the height of tides, suggesting influences from both the standing stock of living biomass and the force of tides. GPP measured by the EC technique (GPPEC) and by remote sensing (GPPRS) differed substantially. We found this difference was correlated well with the net export of green macro-detritus. In general, we concluded that the lateral flux is an important component of the carbon budget in the marsh and that to cross validate between GPPEC and GPPRS, it must be included as a calibration term for computing GPPEC.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by a grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 30870409) and the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai (No. 10dz1200603). We thank Chongming Dongtan National Natural Reserve and the students in our laboratories for their assistance with field research. Gratitude is extended to the first author’s wife Lisa who provided understanding and support for the hard field survey.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Coastal Ecosystems Research Station of the Yangtze River Estuary, and Institute of Eco-Chongming (SIEC), Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China

    Yu Gao, Haiqiang Guo & Bin Zhao

  2. Key Laboratory of East China Sea & Oceanic Fishery Resources Exploitation and Utilization; Scientific Observing and Experimental Station of Fisheries Resources and Environment of East China Sea and Yangtze Estuary, East China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Shanghai 200090, China

    Yu Gao

  3. Center for Global Change and Earth Observations (CGCEO), Michigan State University, East Lansing, 48823, MI, USA

    Zutao Ouyang, Yahn-Jauh Su & Jiquan Chen

  4. Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China

    Changliang Shao

  5. Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, 94720, CA, USA

    Housen Chu

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  1. Yu Gao
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  2. Zutao Ouyang
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  3. Changliang Shao
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  5. Yahn-Jauh Su
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  6. Haiqiang Guo
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  8. Bin Zhao
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Correspondence to Bin Zhao.

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Yu Gao and Zutao Ouyang contribute equally to this work.

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Gao, Y., Ouyang, Z., Shao, C. et al. Field Observation of Lateral Detritus Carbon Flux in a Coastal Wetland. Wetlands 38, 613–625 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-018-1005-x

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