Assessment and valuation of nitrogen mitigation ecosystem services in natural and restored wetlands of the Texas coastal bend

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dc.contributor.advisorZhang, Lin
dc.contributor.advisorWilliams, Lauren
dc.contributor.advisorZhang, Lin
dc.contributor.advisorWilliams, Lauren
dc.contributor.authorHayes, Lydia
dc.contributor.authorHayes, Lydia
dc.contributor.committeeMemberReese, Brandi
dc.contributor.committeeMemberReese, Brandi K.
dc.creator.orcidhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-4451-1414
dc.date.accessioned2020-12-14T21:47:28Z
dc.date.available2020-12-14T21:47:28Z
dc.date.issued2020-05
dc.date.issued2020-05
dc.description.abstractEutrophication leads to poor water quality, hypoxia, and biodiversity loss in aquatic ecosystems, which is a major issue in the Gulf of Mexico and its surrounding estuaries. It is largely caused by excess nutrients in aquatic environments. With population rising along the Texas coast, there is an increase in nitrogen-based nutrients output, through wastewater and agricultural runoff. It is critical to reduce nutrients input to nitrogen-limited waters to improve water quality and eliminate eutrophication. Wetlands are important ecosystems that offer many ecosystem services including nitrogen mitigation. Denitrification is the main pathway for removing excessive nitrogen-based nutrients in wetland sediments. In this study, nitrogen mitigation was quantified through potential denitrification measured in five wetland sites, two restored and three natural ones. Our results showed that the age of wetlands is a major factor regulating denitrification rates, with lowest average annual rates found in two restored sites, Egery Flats and the Nueces Bay restored marsh (11.46 and 10.85 kg N∙ha-2∙yr-1, respectively). Significantly higher rates were found in natural wetland sites, with mean annual rates of 22.5, 29.39, and 39.27 kg N∙ha-2∙yr-1 measured for the Aransas River Estuary, Oso Bay marsh, and the Naval Airbase Bridge, respectively. Temperature was another influencing factor for denitrification rates in three of the five sites. The seasonal denitrification rates measured in this study were used to quantify the economic value of nitrogen mitigation ecosystem services in the two restored wetland sites. The replacement cost was $36,565∙yr-1, and $8,125∙yr-1, for Egery Flats and Nueces Bay restored marsh, respectively, which is an equivalent value of $13.55∙kg N-1 removed.en_US
dc.description.collegeCollege of Science and Engineeringen_US
dc.description.departmentLife Sciencesen_US
dc.format.extent88en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1969.6/89230
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1969.6/89230
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.rightsThis material is made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used should be fully credited with its source. All rights are reserved and retained regardless of current or future development or laws that may apply to fair use standards. Permission for publication of this material, in part or in full, must be secured with the author and/or publisher.en_US
dc.rights.holderHayes, Lydia
dc.rights.holderHayes, Lydia
dc.subjectDenitrificationen_US
dc.subjectEconomic valuationen_US
dc.subjectEcosystem serviceen_US
dc.subjectNitrogen cyclingen_US
dc.subjectNitrogen mitigationen_US
dc.subjectRestored wetlandsen_US
dc.titleAssessment and valuation of nitrogen mitigation ecosystem services in natural and restored wetlands of the Texas coastal benden_US
dc.typeTexten_US
dc.type.genreThesisen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineMarine Biologyen_US
thesis.degree.grantorTexas A & M University--Corpus Christien_US
thesis.degree.levelMastersen_US
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Scienceen_US

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