In situ oxygen dynamics and carbon turnover in an intertidal sediment (Skallingen, Denmark)

Abstract

MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 566:49-65 (2017) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12016 In situ oxygen dynamics and carbon turnover in an intertidal sediment (Skallingen, Denmark) Eva Walpersdorf1, Michael Kühl2,3, Bo Elberling1, Thorbjørn J. Andersen1, Birger U. Hansen1, Morten Pejrup1, Ronnie N. Glud4,5,6,* 1Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Øster Voldgade 10, 1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark 2Marine Biological Laboratory, University of Copenhagen, Strandpromenaden 5, 3000 Helsingør, Denmark 3Plant Functional Biology and Climate Change Cluster, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia 4University of Southern Denmark, Institute of Biology and Nordic Center for Earth Evolution (NordCEE), Odense M, Denmark 5Department of Ocean and Environmental Sciences, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, 4-5-7 Konan, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8477, Japan 6Scottish Association for Marine Science, Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratory, PA37 1QA Dunbeg, UK *Corresponding author: rnglud@biology.sdu.dk ABSTRACT: Intertidal areas are considered to be productive habitats, but due to the challenging and dynamic environment, in situ assessments of their performance remain scarce. Here, we aimed to quantify the production and turnover of organic material in an intertidal sediment across several consecutive diel/tidal cycles and to evaluate the importance of key drivers affecting the community performance. Time-series measurements of the oxygen (O2) microdistribution across 2 sites at a silty sandflat documented extreme variability, which was mainly driven by light availability and flow conditions. Diffusion dominated the interstitial solute transport, but advective porewater transport was observed during 15% of the 9 d study period. Photosynthetic activity never exhibited light inhibition and average daytime net photosynthesis ranged between 1.01 and 11.15 mmol m-2 d-1 depending on the daily light availability, while the assessed gross primary production was ∼80% higher. When irradiance exceeded 17.2 mol photons m-2 d-1, daytime net autotrophy more than balanced the heterotrophic activity during the night (average night-time respiration, ERn: -4.01 mmol m-2 d-1). However, despite intense primary production, the integrated activity during the target autumn period was net heterotrophic with an average net ecosystem metabolism of -2.21 (span: -7.93 to 1.48) mmol O2 m-2 d-1. This study highlights the extreme temporal and spatial variation of intertidal sediments and the importance of accounting for natural in situ dynamics to correctly assess their performance and contribution to system production. KEY WORDS: In situ O2 dynamics · Transecting microprofiler · Benthic primary production · P/E relation · Flow · Net ecosystem metabolism · Intertidal Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Walpersdorf E, Kühl M, Elberling B, Andersen TJ, Hansen BU, Pejrup M, Glud RN (2017) In situ oxygen dynamics and carbon turnover in an intertidal sediment (Skallingen, Denmark). Mar Ecol Prog Ser 566:49-65. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12016 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 566. Online publication date: February 27, 2017 Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599 Copyright © 2017 Inter-Research.