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Carbon Dynamics of Subtropical Wetland Communities in South Florida

Villa Betancur, Jorge Andres
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1395368389

Abstract Details

2014, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Environmental Science.
Emission and uptake of greenhouse gases and the production and transport of dissolved organic matter in different wetland plant communities are key wetland functions determining two important ecosystem services, climate regulation and nutrient cycling. The objective of this dissertation was to study the variation of methane emissions, carbon sequestration and exports of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in wetland plant communities of a subtropical climate in south Florida. The plant communities selected for the study of methane emissions and carbon sequestration were located in a natural wetland landscape and corresponded to a gradient of inundation duration. Going from the wettest to the driest conditions, the communities were designated as: deep slough, bald cypress, wet prairie, pond cypress and hydric pine flatwood. Methane fluxes from the different communities did not show a discernible daily pattern, in contrast to a marked increase in seasonal emissions during inundation. Median and mean + standard error fluxes in g CH4-C.m-2.d-1 were higher in the deep slough (11 and 56.2 + 22.1), followed by the wet prairie (9.01 and 53.3 + 26.6), bald cypress (3.31 and 5.54 + 2.51) and pond cypress (1.49, 4.55 + 3.35) communities. The pine flatwood community acted as a net sink (0.0 and -1.22 + 0.81). Seasonality in methane emissions was positively correlated with the water levels, but not with soil temperature. However, longer inundation periods did not necessarily result in higher methane emissions. The mean carbon concentration from the surface to the depth of maximum 137Cs activity between communities was similar in the deep slough, bald and pond cypress (446, 405 and 369 g-C Kg -1, respectively). However, carbon sequestration rates (g-C.m-2.yr-1) were highest in the deep slough (104 + 14), followed by the pond cypress (60 + 9), bald cypress (30 + 2), wet prairie (24 + 1) and pine flatwood (15 + 1) communities, without an apparent relationship with the duration of the inundation period. Using the latest accepted global warming potentials of methane, it was concluded that the negative effects of contemporary methane emissions from these communities is offset by their long-term carbon sequestration. The study of (DOC) export was conducted at a mesocosm scale using outflow water from the Storm Treatment Area 1W (STA-1W) of the Everglades region. Treatments dominated by. Nymphaea sp./Eleocharis sp. and Najas sp./Chara sp. functioned as temporary sinks for DOC, but, otherwise, all treatments were net sources of dissolved organic carbon, suggesting the importance of autochthonous material from within the mesocosms in the export of carbon. A two-source carbon isotope mixing model was used to estimate the contribution from inflow water and biomass into the outflow’s dissolved organic carbon in each treatment. Dissolved organic carbon from biomass was relatively higher in treatments with emergent and floating vegetation (20 - 32 %) than in treatments containing submerged aquatic vegetation (<5 %). This suggests a faster turnover of the organic matter in treatments dominated by submerged aquatic vegetation and presumably a comparative lower contribution of dissolved organic nutrients exported to the outflow water.
William J. Mitsch, Ph.D (Advisor)
Gil Bohrer, Ph.D (Advisor)
James Bauer, Ph.D (Committee Member)
Jay Martin, Ph.D (Committee Member)
168 p.
Biogeochemistry; Climate Change; Ecology; Environmental Engineering; Environmental Management; Environmental Science; Environmental Studies; Hydrology; Natural Resource Management; Water Resource Management
Wetlands; ecosystem services; carbon sequestration; methane emissions; dissolved organic carbon; climate regulation; nutrient cycling; subtropical wetlands; south Florida; cypress swamp; storm treatment areas; Everglades; hydroperiod

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Citations

  • Villa Betancur, J. A. (2014). Carbon Dynamics of Subtropical Wetland Communities in South Florida [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1395368389

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Villa Betancur, Jorge. Carbon Dynamics of Subtropical Wetland Communities in South Florida. 2014. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1395368389.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Villa Betancur, Jorge. "Carbon Dynamics of Subtropical Wetland Communities in South Florida." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1395368389

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1395368389
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© 2014, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Carbon Dynamics of Subtropical Wetland Communities in South Florida by Jorge Andres Villa Betancur is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.