info:eu-repo/semantics/article
Watershed Deforestation and Down-Estuary Transformations Alter Sources, Transport, and Export of Suspended Particles in Panamanian Mangrove Estuaries
Fecha
2014-01Registro en:
Valiela, Ivan; Bartholomew, Megan; Giblin, A.; Tucker, J.; Harris, C.; et al.; Watershed Deforestation and Down-Estuary Transformations Alter Sources, Transport, and Export of Suspended Particles in Panamanian Mangrove Estuaries; Springer; Ecosystems; 17; 1; 1-2014; 96-111
1432-9840
CONICET Digital
CONICET
Autor
Valiela, Ivan
Bartholomew, Megan
Giblin, A.
Tucker, J.
Harris, C.
Martinetto, Paulina Maria del Rosario
Otter, M.
Camilli, L.
Stone, T.
Resumen
We identified eight Panamanian watersheds in which conversion from wet tropical forest to pastures differed and assessed the effects of degree of deforestation, and down-estuary transformations, on the suspended particulate matter discharged from the watersheds, entering, traversing through mangrove estuaries, and emerging into coastal waters. Deforested watersheds discharged larger concentrations of suspended particulate matter, with lower % C and N, higher mineral content, and heavier isotopic signatures into fresh reaches of estuaries. Down-estuary, sediment entrainment increased non-organic content of particulates, and watershed-derived imprints of deforestation on composition of particulate matter were mostly erased by within-estuary transformations. Isotopic signatures of C, N, and S in particulate matter demonstrated strong land-sea couplings, and indicated that the direction of the coupling was asymmetrical, with terrestrial and estuarine sources delivering particulate materials to coastal waters and sediments. Mangrove estuaries therefore both act as powerful modulators of human activities on land, while also exporting particulate materials to sea.