This data table contains summary data for temperature time series in near-surface sediments in high and low tidal marsh at 7 sites during 2015. These data support the following in-press publication: Janousek, C.N., Buffington, K.J., Guntenspergen, G.R., Thorne, K.M., Dugger, B.D., and Takekawa, J.Y., 2017. Inundation, vegetation, and sediment effects on litter decomposition in Pacific coast tidal marshes. Ecosystems.

Decomposition of plant matter is one of the key processes affecting carbon cycling and storage in tidal wetlands. In this study, we evaluated the effects of factors related to climate change (temperature, inundation) and vegetation composition on rates of litter decay in seven tidal marsh sites along the Pacific coast. In 2014 we conducted manipulative experiments to test inundation effects on litter decay at Siletz Bay, OR and Petaluma marsh, CA. In 2015 we studied decay of litter in high and low elevation marshes at seven Pacific coast sites. These data support the following publication: Janousek, C.N., Buffington, K.J., Guntenspergen, G.R. et al. Ecosystems (2017). doi:10.1007/s10021-017-0111-6. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10021-017-0111-6

This data set contains decomposition rates for litter of Salicornia pacifica, Distichlis spicata, and Deschampsia cespitosa buried at 7 tidal marsh sites in 2015. Sediment organic matter values were collected at a subset of sites. These data support the following in-press publication: Janousek, C.N., Buffington, K.J., Guntenspergen, G.R., Thorne, K.M., Dugger, B.D., and Takekawa, J.Y., 2017. Inundation, vegetation, and sediment effects on litter decomposition in Pacific coast tidal marshes. Ecosystems.

This data table contains plant composition and marsh surface elevation data for 64 plots where Salicornia pacifica litter was buried at 7 sites in 2015. These data support the following in-press publication: Janousek, C.N., Buffington, K.J., Guntenspergen, G.R., Thorne, K.M., Dugger, B.D., and Takekawa, J.Y., 2017. Inundation, vegetation, and sediment effects on litter decomposition in Pacific coast tidal marshes. Ecosystems.

This data table contains mean decomposition rates and mean carbon:nitrogen ratios for different litter types buried in 7 marshes during 2015. Note that C:N data are repeated for low and high marsh areas at each site in the table. These data support the following in-press publication: Janousek, C.N., Buffington, K.J., Guntenspergen, G.R., Thorne, K.M., Dugger, B.D., and Takekawa, J.Y., 2017. Inundation, vegetation, and sediment effects on litter decomposition in Pacific coast tidal marshes. Ecosystems.

The data herein report continuous field measurements and specific discrete sampling events associated with water quality and carbon consitutents – both dissolved and particulate forms. These data were coupled with atmospheric flux measurements during the 2017-18 water year to estimate the net storage of fixed carbon within the marsh on an areal basis. Direct and indirect measurement showed 47 to 59% of fixed carbon is stored on site, and most loss is through dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) export. Comparing this with other tidal wetlands in the U.S. showed similar rates of loss, and a global meta-analysis showed that lateral loss is a proportionally larger term in coastal wetland carbon budgets, relative to other terrestrial systems.

This table contains data on dry mass remaining in a subset of Salicornia pacifica and Deschampsia cespitosa litter bags removed over a series of time points spanning 6 months. These data support the following publication: Janousek, C.N., Buffington, K.J., Guntenspergen, G.R. et al. Ecosystems (2017). doi:10.1007/s10021-017-0111-6. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10021-017-0111-6

This dataset provides the water content, bulk density, carbon concentrations, nitrogen concentrations, and carbon content of all fourteen cores sampled in coastal Louisiana (CRMS 0224) in October of 2019. Each sample is identified by a unique identifier that corresponds to each site by depth increment combination. The pond age range associated with each site is provided. The depth increment associated with each sample is provided.

Plant-mediated processes are often important in determining carbon cycling and storage in ecosystems. With climate-induced changes in the environment, plant-associated processes may also shift. Salt marshes in particular are useful systems to investigate plant-mediated carbon cycling, as these systems experience both sea-level rise and increased carbon dioxide concentrations due to climate change, in addition to stochastically experiencing extreme drought and flood conditions. We measured biomass, soil, and gas carbon pools and the fluxes between those pools using a mesocosm approach in a salt marsh system, to investigate the response of plant-mediated carbon cycling to near-term climate change.