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Comparing the Biogeochemistry of Storm Surge Sediments and Pre-storm Soils in Coastal Wetlands: Hurricane Irma and the Florida Everglades

  • Special Issue: Impact of 2017 Hurricanes
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Abstract

Hurricanes can alter the rates and trajectories of biogeochemical cycling in coastal wetlands. Defoliation and vegetation death can lead to increased soil temperatures, and storm surge can variously cause erosion or deposition of sediment leading to changes in soil bulk density, nutrient composition, and redox characteristics. The objective of this study was to compare the biogeochemistry of pre-storm soils and a carbonate-rich sediment layer deposited by Hurricane Irma that made landfall in southwest Florida as a category 3 storm in September 2017. We predicted that indicators of biogeochemical activity (e.g., potential soil respiration rates, microbial biomass (MBC), and extracellular enzyme activities) would be lower in the storm sediment layer because of its lower organic matter content relative to pre-storm soils. There were few differences between the storm sediment and pre-storm soils at two of the sites closest to the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). This suggests that marine deposition regularly influences soil formation at these sites and is not something that occurs only during hurricanes. At a third site, 8 km from the GOM, the pre-storm soils had much greater concentrations of organic matter, total N, total P, MBC, and higher potential respiration rates than the storm layer. At this same site, CO2 fluxes from intact soil cores containing a layer of storm sediment were 30% lower than those without it. This suggests that sediment deposition from storm surge has the potential to preserve historically sequestered carbon in coastal soils through reduced respiratory losses.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Rafael Travieso for field support.

Funding

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under DEB RAPID Grant No. 1801244 and supported by the National Science Foundation through the Florida Coastal Everglades Long-Term Ecological Research program under Grant No. DEB-1237517. J. Breithaupt is grateful for P3 post-doctoral funding from the University of Central Florida.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, 32816, USA

    Joshua L. Breithaupt, Nia Hurst, Havalend E. Steinmuller, Evan Duga & Lisa G. Chambers

  2. University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, FL, 33701, USA

    Joseph M. Smoak

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, FL, 33199, USA

    John S. Kominoski

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  1. Joshua L. Breithaupt
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  2. Nia Hurst
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Correspondence to Joshua L. Breithaupt.

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Breithaupt, J.L., Hurst, N., Steinmuller, H.E. et al. Comparing the Biogeochemistry of Storm Surge Sediments and Pre-storm Soils in Coastal Wetlands: Hurricane Irma and the Florida Everglades. Estuaries and Coasts 43, 1090–1103 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-019-00607-0

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