High nutrient loads amplify carbon cycling across California and New York coastal wetlands but with ambiguous effects on marsh integrity and sustainability.

ABSTRACT: Eutrophic conditions in estuaries are a globally important stressor to coastal ecosystems and have been suggested as a driver of coastal salt marsh loss. Potential mechanisms in marshes include disturbance caused by macroalgae accumulations, enhanced soil sulfide levels linked to high labile carbon inputs, accelerated decomposition, and declines in belowground biomass that contribute to edge instability, erosion, and slumping. However, results of fertilization studies have been mixed, and it is unclear the extent to which local environmental conditions, such as soil composition and nutrient profiles, help shape the response of salt marshes to nutrient exposure. In this study, we characterized belowground productivity and decomposition, organic matter mineralization rates, soil respiration,

SUBMITTER: Watson EB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9462672 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature