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Sediment Nutrient Accumulation And Nutrient Availability In Two Tidal Freshwater Marshes Along The Mattaponi River, Virginia, Usa, Jennifer L. Morse, J. Patrick Megonigal, Mark R. Walbridge

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Sediment deposition is the main mechanism of nutrient delivery to tidal freshwater marshes (TFMs). We quantified sediment nutrient accumulation in TFMs upstream and downstream of a proposed water withdrawal project on the Mattaponi River, Virginia. Our goal was to assess nutrient availability by comparing relative rates of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) accumulated in sediments with the C, N, and P stoichiometries of surface soils and above ground plant tissues. Surface soil nutrient contents (0.60–0.92% N and 0.09–0.13% P) were low but within reported ranges for TFMs in the eastern US. In both marshes, soil nutrient pools and …