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Nutrient Biogeochemistry During the Early Stages of Delta Development in the Mississippi River Deltaic Plain

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Abstract

Nutrient biogeochemistry associated with the early stages of soil development in deltaic floodplains has not been well defined. Such a model should follow classic patterns of soil nutrient pools described for alluvial ecosystems that are dominated by mineral matter high in phosphorus and low in carbon and nitrogen. A contrast with classic models of soil development is the anthropogenically enriched high nitrate conditions due to agricultural fertilization in upstream watersheds. Here we determine if short-term patterns of soil chemistry and dissolved inorganic nutrient fluxes along the emerging Wax Lake delta (WLD) chronosequence are consistent with conceptual models of long-term nutrient availability described for other ecosystems. We add a low nitrate treatment more typical of historic delta development to evaluate the role of nitrate enrichment in determining the net dinitrogen (N2) flux. Throughout the 35-year chronosequence, soil nitrogen and organic matter content significantly increased by an order of magnitude, whereas phosphorus exhibited a less pronounced increase. Under ambient nitrate concentrations (>60 μM), mean net N2 fluxes (157.5 μmol N m−2 h−1) indicated greater rates of gross denitrification than gross nitrogen fixation; however, under low nitrate concentrations (<2 μM), soils switched from net denitrification to net nitrogen fixation (−74.5 μmol N m−2 h−1). As soils in the WLD aged, the subsequent increase in organic matter stimulated net N2, oxygen, nitrate, and nitrite fluxes producing greater fluxes in more mature soils. In conclusion, soil nitrogen and carbon accumulation along an emerging delta chronosequence largely coincide with classic patterns of soil development described for alluvial floodplains, and substrate age together with ambient nitrogen availability can be used to predict net N2 fluxes during early delta evolution.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by a fellowship from the State of Louisiana Board of Regents, U.S. Shell, the Northern Gulf Institute, and the National Science Foundation via the National Center for Earth-Surface Dynamics (EAR-0120914). We would like to thank Benjamin Branoff, Azure Bevington, Edward Castañeda, Theresa Crupi, Emma-Leah Hale, Jennifer Ladner, William Ohlenforst, Sarah Simmons, and Havalend Steinmuller for field assistance and sample preparation. Special thanks to Thomas Blanchard for laboratory support. Finally, we would like to acknowledge two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on earlier versions of this manuscript.

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  1. Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, School of the Coast and Environment, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 70803, USA

    Kelly M. Henry & Robert R. Twilley

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  1. Kelly M. Henry
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Correspondence to Kelly M. Henry.

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KMH designed the study, carried out field and laboratory work, performed data analyses, and wrote the paper with contributions from RRT. RRT conceived of the study, provided funding, and contributed to data interpretation.

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Henry, K.M., Twilley, R.R. Nutrient Biogeochemistry During the Early Stages of Delta Development in the Mississippi River Deltaic Plain. Ecosystems 17, 327–343 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-013-9727-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-013-9727-3

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