Nitrogen enrichment increases greenhouse gas emissions from emerged intertidal sandflats

Abstract

Unvegetated, intertidal sandflats play a critical role in estuarine carbon and nutrient dynamics. However, these ecosystems are under increasing threat from anthropogenic stressors, especially nitrogen enrichment. While research in this area typically focuses on sediment-water exchanges of carbon and nutrients during tidal inundation, there remain significant gaps in our understanding of GHG (Greenhouse Gas) fluxes during tidal emergence. Here we use in situ benthic chambers to quantify GHG fluxes during tidal emergence and investigate the impact of nitrogen enrichment on these fluxes. Our results demonstrate significant differences in magnitude and direction of GHG fluxes between emerged and submerged flats, demonstrating the importance of considering tidal state when estimating GHG emissions from intertidal flats. These responses were related to differences in microphytobenthic and macrofaunal activity, illustrating the important role of ecology in mediating fluxes from intertidal flats. Our results further demonstrate that nitrogen enrichment of 600 gN m−2 was associated with, on average, a 1.65x increase in CO2 uptake under light (photosynthetically active) conditions and a 1.35x increase in CO2 emission under dark conditions, a 3.8x increase in CH4 emission and a 15x increase in N2O emission overall. This is particularly significant given the large area intertidal flats cover globally, and their increasing exposure to anthropogenic stressors.