Datasets include nitrogen and carbon stable isotope ratios and sediment accretion rates in radiometrically dated mangrove cores collected from the San Juan Bay Estuary in 2016. This dataset is associated with the following publication: Wigand, C., M. Eagle, B. Branoff, S. Balogh, K. Miller, R. Martin, A. Hanson, A. Oczkowski, E. Huertas, J. Loffredo, and E. Watson. Recent Carbon Storage and Burial Exceed Historic Rates in the San Juan Bay Estuary Peri-Urban Mangrove Forests (Puerto Rico, United States). Frontiers in Forests and Global Change. Frontiers, Lausanne, SWITZERLAND, 4: 676691, (2021).

Dataset provides mangrove soil accretion rates, dry bulk density, %carbon, %nitrogen, nitrogen, carbon and sulfur stable isotopes from 5 sites in the San Juan Bay Estuary, Puerto Rico.

Dataset provides mangrove soil accretion rates, dry bulk density, %carbon, %nitrogen, nitrogen, carbon and sulfur stable isotopes from 5 sites in the San Juan Bay Estuary, Puerto Rico.

The San Juan Bay Estuary, Puerto Rico, contains mangrove forests that store significant amounts of organic carbon in soils and biomass. There is a strong urbanization gradient across the estuary, from the highly urbanized and clogged Caño Martin Peña in the western part of the estuary, a series of lagoons in the center of the estuary, and a tropical forest reserve (Piñones) in the easternmost part with limited urbanization. We collected sediment cores to determine carbon burial rates and vertical sediment accretion from five sites in the San Juan Bay Estuary. Cores were radiometrically-dated using lead-210 and the Plum age model. Sites had soil C burial rates ranging from 50 grams per meter squared per year (g m-2 y-1) in the San José lagoon to 632 g m-2 y-1 in the Caño Martin Peña in recent decades. Soil accretion and carbon burial rates were greater in recent decades (1970-2016) compared to historic decades (1930-1970) at some of the forest mangrove sites (i.e. Caño Martin Peña). Apparently, not only urbanization, but site-specific flushing patterns, landscape setting, and soil characteristics affected soil C burial rates. This dataset can help evaluate how differences in urbanization (low in the forest preserve to high in the clogged canal), flushing, and landscape setting influence soil accretion and carbon burial in urban, tropical mangrove forests.

Mangrove restoration efforts often focus on planting seedlings and ignore the underlying physical parameters causing mangrove loss, such as disruption to the hydrological regime. In order to determine success of hydrological restoration, baseline data need to be collected and assessed from a degraded mangrove system undergoing hydrological restoration. Sample collection occurred within the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, FL along a gradient of deforestation, from a heavily degraded dead (no canopy) zone to a transitional zone, and into a full canopy zone and compared to a natural (reference) full canopy mangrove environment nearby. Data included faunal abundance and diversity, stable isotope (carbon and nitrogen), and a suite of environmental variables, such as salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen and grain size. These baseline data provide critical information on the ecosystem functioning that can be used to track community changes in mangrove habitats following hydrological restoration.

Mangrove restoration efforts often focus on planting seedlings and ignore the underlying physical parameters causing mangrove loss, such as disruption to the hydrological regime. In order to determine success of hydrological restoration, baseline data need to be collected and assessed from a degraded mangrove system undergoing hydrological restoration. Sample collection occurred within the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, FL along a gradient of deforestation, from a heavily degraded dead (no canopy) zone to a transitional zone, and into a full canopy zone and compared to a natural (reference) full canopy mangrove environment nearby. Data included faunal abundance and diversity, stable isotope (carbon and nitrogen), and a suite of environmental variables, such as salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen and grain size. These baseline data provide critical information on the ecosystem functioning that can be used to track community changes in mangrove habitats following hydrological restoration.

Coastal wetlands in Tampa Bay, Florida, are important ecosystems that deliver a variety of ecosystem services. Key to ecosystem functioning is wetland response to sea-level rise through accumulation of mineral and organic sediment. The organic sediment within coastal wetlands is composed of carbon sequestered over the time scale of the wetland’s existence. This study was conducted to provide information on soil accretion and carbon storage rates across a variety of coastal ecosystems that was utilized in the Tampa Bay Blue Carbon Assessment (ESA, 2017; linkage below). Ten sediment cores were collected from six Tampa Bay wetland sites in October 2015 (maximum core length 40 centimeters). Three main vegetation types were targeted for core collection: salt marsh, dominated by Juncus and Spartina alternaflora; mangrove, including Rhizophora mangle, Laguncularia racemosa and/or Avicennia germinans; and young mangrove, where wetlands were created within the last three decades. An additional surface sediment sample was collected from a salt barren, as this site was not conducive to coring. Marsh surface elevations were measured at each site (ranging from 0.771 meters to 1.462 meters relative to NAVD88) to determine the marsh boundaries within current tidal conditions. Continuous Rate of Supply age models, based on lead-210 and cesium-137 isotope analysis, were constructed to evaluate how vertical accretion and carbon burial rates have changed during the past century. Over that time, accretion rates were very similar for each ecosystem: restored marsh sites (2.5 mm per year), followed by the salt marshes (2.7 mm per year) and mature mangroves (3.2 mm per year). The resulting carbon burial rates over the past century vary as a function of vegetation type, with mature mangroves burying on average 163 grams carbon per square meter per year, compared to young (restoring) mangroves with an average of 94 grams carbon per square meter per year and the salt marsh with an average of 64 grams carbon per square meter per year . This dataset also includes dry bulk density (0.02 - 1.70 grams per cubic centimeter), percent carbon (0.32 %-39.08 %), and percent loss on ignition (0.66 % – 80.2 %) from a sub-set of core sections in order to assess possible correlative relationships among these parameters. https://estuaries.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/FINAL_Tampa-Bay-Blue-Carbon-Assessment-Report-updated-compressed.pdf

Following Hurricane Sandy, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center conducted a seasonal collection of estuarine, marsh, and sandy overwash surface sediments from Chincoteague Bay, Tom’s Cove, and the surrounding Assateague Island and Delmarva Peninsula in March–April and October 2014. Surplus surface sediment was analyzed for metals, percent carbon and nitrogen, d13C, and d15N as part of a complementary U.S. Geological Survey Coastal and Marine Geology Program Sea-level and Storm Impacts on Estuarine Environments and Shorelines project study. The geochemical subsample analyzed for metals and stable isotopes at each site may be used for comparison with past data sets, to create a modern baseline of the natural distribution of the area, to understand seasonal variability as it relates to the health of the local environment, and to assess marsh-to-bay interactions. The use of metals, stable carbon, and stable nitrogen isotopes allows for a more cohesive snapshot of factors influencing the environment and could aid in tracking environmental change. This report serves as an archive for chemical data derived from the surface sediment. Data are available for a seasonal comparison between the March–April 2014 and October 2014 sampling trips. Downloadable data are available as Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. Additional files include formal Federal Geographic Data Committee metadata (data downloads).

Following Hurricane Sandy, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center conducted a seasonal collection of estuarine, marsh, and sandy overwash surface sediments from Chincoteague Bay, Tom’s Cove, and the surrounding Assateague Island and Delmarva Peninsula in March–April and October 2014. Surplus surface sediment was analyzed for metals, percent carbon and nitrogen, d13C, and d15N as part of a complementary U.S. Geological Survey Coastal and Marine Geology Program Sea-level and Storm Impacts on Estuarine Environments and Shorelines project study. The geochemical subsample analyzed for metals and stable isotopes at each site may be used for comparison with past data sets, to create a modern baseline of the natural distribution of the area, to understand seasonal variability as it relates to the health of the local environment, and to assess marsh-to-bay interactions. The use of metals, stable carbon, and stable nitrogen isotopes allows for a more cohesive snapshot of factors influencing the environment and could aid in tracking environmental change. This report serves as an archive for chemical data derived from the surface sediment. Data are available for a seasonal comparison between the March–April 2014 and October 2014 sampling trips. Downloadable data are available as Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. Additional files include formal Federal Geographic Data Committee metadata (data downloads).

Following Hurricane Sandy, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center conducted a seasonal collection of estuarine, marsh, and sandy overwash surface sediments from Chincoteague Bay, Tom’s Cove, and the surrounding Assateague Island and Delmarva Peninsula in March–April and October 2014. Surplus surface sediment was analyzed for metals, percent carbon and nitrogen, d13C, and d15N as part of a complementary U.S. Geological Survey Coastal and Marine Geology Program Sea-level and Storm Impacts on Estuarine Environments and Shorelines project study. The geochemical subsample analyzed for metals and stable isotopes at each site may be used for comparison with past data sets, to create a modern baseline of the natural distribution of the area, to understand seasonal variability as it relates to the health of the local environment, and to assess marsh-to-bay interactions. The use of metals, stable carbon, and stable nitrogen isotopes allows for a more cohesive snapshot of factors influencing the environment and could aid in tracking environmental change. This report serves as an archive for chemical data derived from the surface sediment. Data are available for a seasonal comparison between the March–April 2014 and October 2014 sampling trips. Downloadable data are available as Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. Additional files include formal Federal Geographic Data Committee metadata (data downloads).