Nutrient Biogeochemistry During the Early Stages of Delta Development in the Mississippi River Deltaic Plain

Abstract

Nutrient biogeochemistry associated with the early stages of soil development in deltaic floodplains has not been well defined. Such a model should follow classic patterns of soil nutrient pools described for alluvial ecosystems that are dominated by mineral matter high in phosphorus and low in carbon and nitrogen. A contrast with classic models of soil development is the anthropogenically enriched high nitrate conditions due to agricultural fertilization in upstream watersheds. Here we determine if short-term patterns of soil chemistry and dissolved inorganic nutrient fluxes along the emerging Wax Lake delta (WLD) chronosequence are consistent with conceptual models of long-term nutrient availability described for other ecosystems. We add a low nitrate treatment more typical of historic delta development to evaluate the role of nitrate enrichment in determining the net dinitrogen (N2) flux. Throughout the 35-year chronosequence, soil nitrogen and organic matter content significantly increased by an order of magnitude, whereas phosphorus exhibited a less pronounced increase. Under ambient nitrate concentrations (>60 μM), mean net N2 fluxes (157.5 μmol N m−2 h−1) indicated greater rates of gross denitrification than gross nitrogen fixation; however, under low nitrate concentrations (<2 μM), soils switched from net denitrification to net nitrogen fixation (−74.5 μmol N m−2 h−1). As soils in the WLD aged, the subsequent increase in organic matter stimulated net N2, oxygen, nitrate, and nitrite fluxes producing greater fluxes in more mature soils. In conclusion, soil nitrogen and carbon accumulation along an emerging delta chronosequence largely coincide with classic patterns of soil development described for alluvial floodplains, and substrate age together with ambient nitrogen availability can be used to predict net N2 fluxes during early delta evolution.