Carbon Dioxide and Methane Emissions From A Temperate Salt Marsh Tidal Creek

Abstract

Abstract Coastal salt marshes store large amounts of carbon but the magnitude and patterns of greenhouse gas (GHG; i.e., carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and methane (CH 4 )) fluxes are unclear. Information about GHG fluxes from these ecosystems comes from studies of sediments or at the ecosystem‐scale (eddy covariance) but fluxes from tidal creeks are unknown. We measured GHG concentrations in water, water quality, meteorological parameters, sediment CO 2 efflux, ecosystem‐scale GHG fluxes, and plant phenology; all at half‐hour intervals over 1 year. Manual creek GHG flux measurements were used to calculate gas transfer velocity ( k ) and parameterize a model of water‐to‐atmosphere GHG fluxes. The creek was a source of GHGs to the atmosphere where tidal patterns controlled diel variability. Dissolved oxygen and wind speed were negatively correlated with creek CH 4 efflux. Despite lacking a seasonal pattern, creek CO 2 efflux was correlated with drivers such as turbidity across phenological phases. Overall, nighttime creek CO 2 efflux (3.6 ± 0.63 μmol/m 2 /s) was at least 2 times higher than nighttime marsh sediment CO 2 efflux (1.5 ± 1.23 μmol/m 2 /s). Creek CH 4 efflux (17.5 ± 6.9 nmol/m 2 /s) was 4 times lower than ecosystem‐scale CH 4 fluxes (68.1 ± 52.3 nmol/m 2 /s) across the year. These results suggest that tidal creeks are potential hotspots for CO 2 emissions and could contribute to lateral transport of CH 4 to the coastal ocean due to supersaturation of CH 4 (>6,000 μmol/mol) in water. This study provides insights for modeling GHG efflux from tidal creeks and suggests that changes in tide stage overshadow water temperature in determining magnitudes of fluxes.