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The determination of rates and stocks of carbon storage in salt marshes, as well as their protection, require that we know where they and their boundaries are. Marsh boundaries are conventionally mapped through recognition of plant communities using aerial photography or satellite imagery. We examined the possibility of substituting the use of 1 m resolution LiDAR-derived digital elevation models (DEMs) and tidal elevations to establish salt marsh upper boundaries on the New Brunswick coasts of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Bay of Fundy, testing this method at tidal ranges from ≤2 to ≥4 m. LiDAR-mapped marsh boundaries were verified with high spatial resolution satellite imagery and a subset through field mapping of the upland marsh edge based upon vegetation and soil characteristics, recording the edge location and elevation with a Differential Geographic Positioning System. The results show that the use of high-resolution LiDAR and tidal elevation data can successfully map the upper boundary of salt marshes without the need to first map plant species. The marsh map area resulting from our mapping was ~30% lower than that in the province’s aerial-photograph-based maps. However, the difference was not primarily due to the location of the upper marsh boundaries but more so because of the exclusion of mudflats and large creeks (features that are not valued as carbon sinks) using the LiDAR method that are often mapped as marsh areas in the provincial maps. Despite some minor limitations, the development of DEMs derived from LiDAR can be applied to update and correct existing salt marsh maps along extensive sections of coastlines in less time than required to manually trace from imagery. This is vital information for governments and NGOs seeking to conserve these environments, as accurate mapping of the location and area of these ecosystems is a necessary basis for conservation prioritization indices.

We measured total carbon stocks of three marshes: Two formed in association with a developing spit along the Gulf of St. Lawrence coast of New Brunswick, Canada, and another with a lagoon on the coast of Maine, USA. Overall, 46 cores and 157 depth recordings were collected to determine depth of the marsh deposits. Total marsh soil volume was estimated by interpolation. In all marshes soil depth varied in a predictable pattern based upon marsh developmental history. In spit marshes deposit age and thickness increased towards the oldest portion of the spit. In the lagoonal marsh, soil depth was greatest in the center and declined towards both the upland and seaward margins. This same pattern held on axes perpendicular to the primary, age axis of the spit marshes. In each marsh C density did not significantly vary with depth so that marsh depth was an acceptable estimator of C stock, and therefore driven by the geomorphic context of the marshes we studied. There were major differences in C stock estimates produced using GIS interpolation, average C contained in all marsh cores, or cores along a single transect. Our study demonstrates that assuming a soil depth of just 0.5 or 1 m can substantially under- or overestimate marsh carbon stocks and the value of that stock on a carbon market.

The data presented here includes a table of soils measurements taken at high resolution depth intervals (5 cm) for three salt marshes, two along the New Brunswick coast of Canada and one on the southern coast of Maine, USA. The data includes a table which includes the bulk density, percent organic matter, percent organic carbon, carbon stock, and rhizome dominance (if identifiable) at 5 cm depth intervals for each soil core. Shapefiles are also included which indicates the GPS position of acquired cores and sites where marsh depth was measured but no material was recovered. These shapefiles also include marsh peat depth and estimates of carbon stock for each point. For further information and interpretation of the included data please see the companion research article titled “The Importance of Geomorphic Context for Estimating the Carbon Stock of Salt Marshes” [1] .

We assessed the impact of nutrient additions on greenhouse gas fluxes using dark static chambers in a microtidal and a macrotidal marsh along the coast of New Brunswick, Canada approximately monthly over a year. Both were experimentally fertilized for six years with varying levels of N and P. For unfertilized, N and NPK treatments, average yearly CO2 emissions (which represent only respiration) at the microtidal marsh (13, 19, and 28 mmoles CO2 m(-2) hr(-1), respectively) were higher than at the macrotidal marsh (12, 15, and 19 mmoles m(-2) hr(-1), respectively, with a flux under the additional high N/low P treatment of 21 mmoles m(-2) hr(-1)). Response of CH4 to fertilization was more variable. At the macrotidal marsh average yearly fluxes were 1.29, 1.26, and 0.77 μmol CH4 m(-2) hr(-1) with control, N, and NPK treatments, respectively and 1.21 μmol m(-2) hr(-1) under high N/low P treatment. At the microtidal marsh CH4 fluxes were 0.23, 0.16, and -0.24 μmol CH4 m(-2) hr(-1) in control, N, and NPK and treatments, respectively. Fertilization changed soils from sinks to sources of N2O. Average yearly N2O fluxes at the macrotidal marsh were -0.07, 0.08, and 1.70, μmol N2O m(-2) hr(-1) in control, N, NPK and treatments, respectively and 0.35 μmol m(-2) hr(-1) under high N/low P treatment. For the control, N, and NPK treatments at the microtidal marsh N2O fluxes were -0.05, 0.30, and 0.52 μmol N2O m(-2) hr(-1), respectively. Our results indicate that N2O fluxes are likely to vary with the source of pollutant nutrients but emissions will be lower if N is not accompanied by an adequate supply of P (e.g., atmospheric deposition vs sewage or agricultural runoff). With chronic fertilization the global warming potential of the increased N2O emissions may be enough to offset the global cooling potential of the C sequestered by salt marshes.