Journal article
Land–Ocean Coupling of Carbon and Nitrogen Fluxes on Sandy Beaches
Ecosystems, Vol.12(2), pp.311-321
2009
Abstract
Rivers link oceans with the land, creating global hot spots of carbon processing in coastal seas. Coastlines around the world are dominated by sandy beaches, but beaches are unusual in that they are thought to rely almost exclusively on marine imports for food. No significant connections to terrestrial production having been demonstrated. By contrast, we isotopically traced carbon and nitrogen pathways leading to clams (Donax deltoides) on beaches. Clams from areas influenced by river plumes had significantly different isotope signatures (δ13C: -18.5 to -20.2‰; δ15N: 8.3-10.0‰) compared with clams remote from plumes (δ13C: -17.5 to -19.5‰; δ15N: 7.6-8.7‰), showing that terrestrial carbon and sewage, both delivered in river plumes, penetrate beach food webs. This is a novel mechanism of trophic subsidy in marine intertidal systems, linking the world's largest shore ecosystem to continental watersheds. The same clams also carry pollution signatures of sewage discharged into rivers, demonstrating that coastal rivers connect ecosystems in unexpected ways and transfer contaminants across the land-ocean boundary. The links we demonstrate between terrigenous matter and the largest of all marine intertidal ecosystems are significant given the immense social, cultural, and economic values of beaches to humans and the predicted consequences of altered river discharge to coastal seas caused by global climate change.
Details
- Title
- Land–Ocean Coupling of Carbon and Nitrogen Fluxes on Sandy Beaches
- Authors
- Thomas Schlacher (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health and EducationR M Connolly (Author) - Griffith University
- Publication details
- Ecosystems, Vol.12(2), pp.311-321
- Publisher
- Springer New York LLC
- Date published
- 2009
- DOI
- 10.1007/s10021-008-9224-2
- ISSN
- 1432-9840
- Organisation Unit
- School of Science and Engineering - Legacy; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Science, Technology and Engineering
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99450293902621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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