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Sediment and porewater nitrification and organic matter data in a Northern Gulf of Mexico marsh from 2021-05-26 to 2022-05-21 (NCEI Accession 0301084)

Published by NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Catalog Last Checked: August 03, 2026 at 04:54 AM | Dataset Last Updated: February 05, 2025 at 12:00 AM
We conducted a year-long study with the main objective of comparing denitrification, anammox, and dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA) across three different vegetation zones (Distichlis spicata, Juncus roemerianus, and Cladium mariscus Spp.) in the salt marsh at Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) in Fairhope, AL., USA. Sediment samples were collected from each vegetation zone to measure rates of denitrification, anammox, and DNRA using a membrane inlet mass spectrometer. Percent nitrate removal was calculated as the product of denitrification plus anammox divided by the sum of all three nitrate reduction processes. Plant biomass and soil carbon and nitrate content were collected to characterize each zone. Nutrient stocks for phosphate, ammonium, nitrate + nitrite, and hydrogen sulfides from each marsh were measured from porewater samples taken from 10 cm depth within each vegetation zone. We also performed a laboratory manipulation where we subjected sediments from each vegetation zone with nitrate and organic matter (Spirulina cyanobacteria) in a full factorial design, giving us four total treatment conditions: control, + nitrate only, + organic matter only, and + nitrate + organic matter. We incubated sediments in anoxic tanks in their respective treatments for 28 days while periodically removing a subset of sediment over five timepoints during the incubation (days 1, 3, 7, 15, and 28). The removed sediments were used to measure denitrification, anammox and DNRA potentials with the objective to see how nitrate and organic matter influence nitrate reduction processes from sediments across the three vegetation types. Overlying water from each treatment tank was sampled every other day to monitor nutrient concentrations (phosphate, ammonium, nitrate + nitrite) throughout the incubation.

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