Dataset: Factors influencing blue carbon accumulation across a 32‐year chronosequence of created coastal marshes
Katherine M
Abbott
kmabbott@umass.edu
Katherine M
Abbott
author
Tracy
Quirk
author
Ronald D
DeLaune
author
2019
Saline coastal marshes are blue carbon ecosystems with relatively high soil carbon (C) stocks and high rates of soil C accumulation. Loss of saline wetlands due to relative sea‐level rise, land‐use change, and hydrologic alterations liberates previously stored C and reduces the capacity for future C sequestration. Widespread wetland loss has prompted marsh restoration and creation projects around the world; however, little is known about the timescale and capacity for created marshes to function as blue C sinks and the role of environmental conditions in mediating soil C accumulation in restoration sites. Using a chronosequence of five created saline marshes ranging in age from 5 to 32 yr and two adjacent natural reference marshes in southwest Louisiana, USA, short‐ and longer‐term C accumulation rates (SCAR and LCAR, respectively) were determined using feldspar marker horizons and peat depth in cores at six locations in each marsh. Created marshes ranged in elevation from −12 to 41 cm (NAVD88) and supported assorted plant community compositions driven by local environmental conditions. SCAR ranged from 75 to 430 g C·m−2·yr−1, which were comparable in the two youngest and two oldest marshes. Longer‐term CAR ranged from 18 to 99 g C·m−2·yr−1 but did not significantly differ among marshes of different ages. Our findings indicate that LCAR in these created marshes were influenced by site‐specific environmental conditions (i.e., stem density and mineral sediment) rather than marsh age. Results suggest that conditions appropriate for the establishment of vegetation with high stem densities, such as Distichlis spicata and Spartina patens, may facilitate higher LCAR in created marshes, which may be useful for restoration project planning and mitigation of climate change.
autochthonous
production
carbon storage
Distichlis spicata
Louisiana
Spartina patens
vertical accretion
wetland creation
wetland restoration
This dataset is listed under a Creative Commons BY 4.0 and can be used with attribution. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Sabine National Wildlife Refuge in the Chenier Plain in southwest Louisiana
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2015-09-18
2016-09-01
Species
Spartina alterniflora
Species
Aster tenuifolius
Species
Borrichia frutescens
Species
Bulboschoenus robustus
Species
Distichlis spicata
Species
Spartina patens
Species
Batis maritima
Katherine M
Abbott
kmabbott@umass.edu
abbott_et_al_2019_methods_data
Methods information for study
abbott_et_al_2019_material_and_methods.csv
column
,
study_id
Unique identifier for the study made up of the first author's family name, as well as the second author's or 'et al.' if more than three, then publication year spearated by underscores. See worksCited.bib for more detail.
string
Free text
coring_method
Code indicating what type of device was used to collect soil depth profiles.
string
polycarbonate tube
polycarbonate tube with a diameter of 6.35 cm and a sharpened bottom edge
roots_flag
Code indicating whether live roots were included or excluded from carbon assessments.
string
roots and rhizomes included
Roots and rhizomes were included in dry bulk density and or organic matter and carbon measurements
compaction_flag
Code indicating how the authors qualified or quantified compaction of the core.
string
corer limits compaction
Authors specified that the coring device's design minimized compaction
dry_bulk_density_temperature
Temperature at which samples were dried to measure dry bulk density. This can include either samples that were freeze dried or oven dried.
float
celsius
real
dry_bulk_density_flag
Any notable codes regarding how the authors quantified dry bulk density.
string
to constant mass
Bulk density methodology did not specify drying temperature or length, only that samples were dried to a constant mass
loss_on_ignition_temperature
Temperature at which samples were combusted to estimate fraction organic matter.
float
celsius
real
loss_on_ignition_time
Time over which samples were combusted to estimate fraction organic matter.
float
hour
integer
carbon_measured_or_modeled
Code indicating whether fraction carbon was measured or estimated as a function of organic matter.
string
measured
Fraction carbon was measured as opposed to modeled
carbonates_removed
Whether or not carbonates were removed prior to calculating fraction organic carbon.
string
TRUE
Carbonates were removed before measuring organic carbon.
carbonate_removal_method
The method used to remove carbonates prior to measuring fraction carbon.
string
acid fumigation
Carbonates were removed by fumigating with concentrated acid
fraction_carbon_method
Code indicating the method for which fraction carbon was measured or modeled (Note: regression based models are permitted, but the use of the Bemmelen factor [0.58 gOC gOM-1] is discouraged).
string
EA
Each sample presented was measured using Elemental Analysis
fraction_carbon_type
Code indicating whether fraction_carbon refers to organic or total carbon.
string
organic carbon
Author specified that fraction carbon measurements were of organic carbon
abbott_2019_core_data
Soil core information
abbott_et_al_2019_cores.csv
column
,
study_id
Unique identifier for the study made up of the first author's family name, as well as the second author's or 'et al.' if more than three, then publication year spearated by underscores. See worksCited.bib for more detail.
string
Free text
site_id
Site identification code unique to each study.
string
Free text
core_id
Core identification code unique to each site.
string
Free text
core_date
Date of core collection.
date
YYYY-MM-DD
core_latitude
Positional latitude of the core in decimal degree WGS84.
float
degree
real
core_longitude
Positional longitude of the core in decimal degree WGS84.
float
degree
real
core_position_method
Code indicating how latitude and longitude were determined.
string
RTK-GPS
Real-time kinematic global position system (GPS)
core_elevation
Surface elevation of the core relative to defined datum.
float
meter
real
core_elevation_method
Code indicating how elevation was determined
string
RTK-GPS
Real-time kinematic global position system (GPS)
salinity_class
Code based on submitter field observation or measurement indicating average annual salinity (Note: Palustrine and freshwater should only include tidal wetlands, or wetlands that are potentially/formerly tidal but artificially freshened due to artificial tidal restrictions).
string
saline
30-50 ppt
vegetation_class
Code based on submitter field observations or measurement indicating dominant wetland vegetation type.
string
emergent
Describes wetlands dominated by persistent emergent vascular plants
salinity
Measured salinity at core location
float
perMille
real
short_term_accretion_rate
Short-term accretion rate established using a 1.0 cm white feldspar clay layer within a .5 square meter quadrat next to the core
float
centimeterPerYear
real
short_term_organic_matter_accretion_rate
Short-term accretion rate established using a 1.0 cm white feldspar clay layer within a .5 square meter quadrat next to the core
float
gramsPerSquareMeterPerYear
real
short_term_mineral_accumulation_rate
Short-term accumulation rates derived by calculating the product of percent organic, mineral, or C content and bulk density by the short-term accretion rate
float
gramsPerSquareMeterPerYear
real
short_term_carbon_accumulation_rate
Short-term accumulation rates derived by calculating the product of percent organic, mineral, or C content and bulk density by the short-term accretion rate
float
gramsPerSquareMeterPerYear
real
longer_term_accretion_rate
Rate of accretion of sediments and soil organic mattter calculated with depth of dredge horizon
float
centimeterPerYear
real
longer_term_organic_matter_pool
Density of stored long-term organic matter
float
gramsPerSquareMeter
real
longer_term_organic_matter_accumulation_rate
Natural marsh longer-term C accumulation rates calculated using the equation after Craft et al. (1991) from accretion rates, bulk density, and organic matter values provided in Smith (2012).
float
gramsPerSquareMeterPerYear
real
longer_term_mineral_pool
Density of stored long-term mineral matter
float
gramsPerSquareMeter
real
longer_term_mineral_accumulation_rate
Natural marsh longer-term C accumulation rates calculated using the equation after Craft et al. (1991) from accretion rates, bulk density, and organic matter values provided in Smith (2012).
float
gramsPerSquareMeterPerYear
real
longer_term_carbon_pool
Density of stored long-term carbon
float
gramsPerSquareMeter
real
longer_term_carbon_accumulation_rate
Determined by multiplying calculated C densities by respective accretion rates
float
gramsPerSquareMeterPerYear
real
mean_high_water
Average of all high water heights observed
float
meter
real
mean_low_water
Average of all low water heights observed
float
meter
real
fraction_time_flooded
Fraction of time coring location is flooded
float
dimensionless
real
mean_water_depth
Average depth of water at the coring location
float
meter
real
abbott_2019_depthseries_data
Soil core depthseries information
abbott_et_al_2019_depthseries.csv
column
,
study_id
Unique identifier for the study made up of the first author's family name, as well as the second author's or 'et al.' if more than three, then publication year spearated by underscores. See worksCited.bib for more detail.
string
Free text
site_id
Site identification code unique to each study.
string
Free text
core_id
Core identification code unique to each site.
string
Free text
depth_min
Minimum depth of a sampling increment.
float
centimeter
real
depth_max
Maximum depth of a sampling increment.
float
centimeter
real
sample_id
Sample identification unique to the core. This should be used in the case that there are relevant lab specific sample codes, or in the case that there are multiple replicate samples.
string
Free text
dry_bulk_density
Dry mass per unit volume of a soil sample. This does not include ash free bulk density.
float
gramsPerCubicCentimeter
real
fraction_organic_matter
Mass of organic matter relative to sample dry mass. Ash free bulk density should not be used here but should be expressed as a loss on ignition fraction.
float
dimensionless
real
fraction_carbon
Mass of carbon relative to sample dry mass.
float
dimensionless
real
marker_date
The age of any other dated depth horizon such as an artificial marker, pollen horizon, pollution horizon, etc.
float
nominalYear
integer
marker_type
Code indicating the type of marker.
string
dredge horizon
Layer of dredge sediment used to estimate depth of marsh above the point of marsh creation
fraction_nitrogen
Fraction nitrogen relative to dry weight
float
dimensionless
real
abbott_2019_impacts_data
Anthropogenic impact information
abbott_et_al_2019_impacts.csv
column
,
study_id
Unique identifier for the study made up of the first author's family name, as well as the second author's or 'et al.' if more than three, then publication year spearated by underscores. See worksCited.bib for more detail.
string
Free text
site_id
Site identification code unique to each study.
string
Free text
core_id
Core identification code unique to each site.
string
Free text
impact_class
Code indicating any major anthropogenic impacts historically and currently affecting the coring location.
string
tidally restored
Tidal flow has been restored by removing an artificial obstruction
grams per square meter per year
Equivalent to parts per thousand