Restoration of estuarine habitats supports changes in nitrogen cycling and removal over time Public Deposited
- Last Modified
- March 20, 2019
- Creator
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Onorevole, Kathleen
- Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Marine Sciences
- Abstract
- Salt marshes and oyster reefs can be restored as living shorelines to prevent coastal erosion and provide ecosystem functions, including denitrification. This microbial process transforms N to a non-bioavailable gas, possibly also producing the powerful greenhouse gas N2O. This study used a chronosequence space-for-time replacement design spanning 0 to 20 years to evaluate N cycling following restoration. Sediment cores were collected seasonally. Dissolved N2 and O2 fluxes in the overlying water were analyzed with a membrane inlet mass spectrometer (MIMS). Denitrification always increased from the 0- to 7-year-old sites; changes in rates between the 7- and 20-year-old sites were not consistent across seasons. Sediment oxygen demand (SOD) was significantly correlated with annual denitrification and may be a viable proxy. These habitats may be a small sink for N2O. This research shows that restored salt marshes and oyster reefs can augment denitrification without increasing fluxes of N2O.
- Date of publication
- December 2016
- Keyword
- DOI
- Resource type
- Rights statement
- In Copyright
- Advisor
- Cable, Jaye
- Piehler, Michael
- Fodrie, F. Joel
- Degree
- Master of Science
- Degree granting institution
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Graduate School
- Graduation year
- 2016
- Language
- Parents:
This work has no parents.
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Onorevole_unc_0153M_16601.pdf | 2019-04-09 | Public |
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