Ecological parameter reductions, environmental regimes, and characteristic process diagram of carbon dioxide fluxes in coastal salt marshes

We investigated the ecological parameter reductions (termed “similitudes”) and characteristic patterns of the net uptake fluxes of carbon dioxide (CO(2)) in coastal salt marshes using dimensional analysis method from fluid mechanics and hydraulic engineering. Data collected during May–October, 2013 from four salt marshes in Waquoit Bay and adjacent estuary, Massachusetts, USA were utilized to evaluate the theoretically-derived dimensionless flux and various ecological driver numbers. Two meaningful dimensionless groups were discovered as the light use efficiency number (LUE = CO(2) normalized by photosynthetically active radiation) and the biogeochemical number (combination of soil temperature, porewater salinity, and atmospheric pressure). A semi-logarithmic plot of the dimensionless numbers indicated the emergence of a characteristic diagram represented by three distinct LUE regimes (high, transitional, and low). The high regime corresponded to the most favorable (high temperature and low salinity) condition for CO(2) uptake, whereas the low regime represented an unfavorable condition (low temperature and high salinity). The analysis identified two environmental thresholds (soil temperature ~ 17 °C and salinity ~ 30 ppt), which dictated the regime transitions of CO(2) uptake. The process diagram and critical thresholds provide important insights into the CO(2) uptake potential of coastal wetlands in response to changes in key environmental drivers.