Nutrient dynamics in a wetland

Wetlands represent the most significant natural greenhouse gas source, and their annual emissions tightly depend on climatic and anthropogenic factors. We used BRTSim to investigate wetland nutrient dynamics and GHG emissions, relevant electron acceptors and donors concentrations, and microbial composition resulting from different climatic and anthropogenic scenarios.

We used the BAMS3 reaction network that integrates the carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur cycles (Figure 1), and we included transport, chemical and biological degradation, protection into the soil matrix, and aerenchyma transport for CH4 emissions in the atmosphere. We studied the nutrients dynamics along a soil vertical soil column for variable ecohydrological boundary conditions in a case study of a wetland in Michigan, USA. The animation in Figure 2 shows the dynamics of the water table, CH4 soil concentrations, SOM pools concentrations, the dynamics of methanogens and methane oxidizers microbes, and CH4 emissions through both aerenchyma and diffusion. Comprehensive results from BRTSim-BAMS3 modelling and analyses of nutrients and microbial dynamics can be found in PUBLICATIONS.

Figure 1. BAMS3 biogeochemical reaction network of the C-N-S coupled nutrient cycles.