Collaborative Research: Outwelling of Dissolved Organic Carbon from Salt Marshes

“该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。“理解陆地和海洋碳循环耦合的一个关键、变革性但经常被忽视的变量在于碳从陆地向海洋的转移。墨西哥湾是北美碳预算不确定性的主要来源，其特点是明显的陆海边界、沿海湿地、潮间盐沼、浅河口和短距离动态碳交换。由于潮沟-沼泽系统的复杂性、潮间和淡水驱动通量的动态性质以及陆地有机物示踪剂的局限性，人们对起源于潮间沼泽并进入沿海海洋的有机物的数量和命运知之甚少。在马萨诸塞大学波士顿分校、格鲁吉亚大学、路易斯安那州立大学和佛罗里达农业和机械大学的合作努力中，科学家们将利用高空间和时间分辨率观测，沿着离散地球化学采样和空间显式建模，评估盐沼在全球碳循环中的作用。这项研究将使科学家能够确定碳外流背后的运输和转化机制，并通过量化其生物利用度，评估外流盐沼溶解有机碳对沿海和海洋食物网的相对影响。这项研究的结果将提供广泛的跨学科为所有参与大学的研究生和本科生提供（水文学、地球化学、建模）学习机会。PI还将通过COSEE佛罗里达，COSEE新英格兰和流域综合科学伙伴关系计划为K-12学生开发教育推广模块。

"This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)."A key, transformative, but often overlooked, variable to understanding the coupled terrestrial and marine carbon cycles lies in the transfer of carbon from land to ocean. The Gulf of Mexico is a major source of uncertainty in the North American carbon budget, and is characterized by a significant land-ocean boundary, coastal wetlands, intertidal salt marshes, shallow estuaries and dynamic carbon exchange across short distances. Very little is known about the magnitude and fate of organic matter that originates in intertidal marshes and enters the coastal ocean due the complexity of the tidal creek-marsh system, the dynamic nature of intertidal and freshwater-driven fluxes, and the limitation of terrestrial organic matter tracers. In a collaborative effort between the University of Massachusetts-Boston, the University of Georgia, Louisiana State University, and Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University scientists will utilize high spatial and temporal resolution observations along with discrete biogeochemical sampling and spatially explicit modeling to assess the role of salt marshes in the global carbon cycle. This research will allow scientists to identify the transport and transformation mechanisms behind the carbon outwelling, and by quantifying its bioavailability, assess the relative impact of outwelled salt marsh dissolved organic carbon on coastal and marine food webs.The results from this research will provide a broad range of interdisciplinary (hydrology, biogeochemistry, modeling) learning opportunities for both the graduate and undergraduate students from all of the participating universities. The PIs will also develop an educational outreach module for K-12 students through the COSEE-Florida, COSEE New England, and Watershed-Integrated Sciences Partnership programs.