Dataset: Seagrasses carbon nitrogen and isotopes - summary

Name: Summary of carbon and nitrogen concentrations and isotope ratios from samples of eelgrass from Virginia Coastal Lagoons and turtlegrass from St George Sound FL
Published: 2018-10-10
Keywords: biota, oceans

Cite This Dataset

DOI:10.1575/1912/bco-dmo.746344.1

Spatial Extent: N:37.343211 E:-75.732307 S:29.853211 W:-84.551509

Temporal Extent: 2017-05 - 2017-07

Project:

Toward an Improved Understanding of Blue Carbon: The Role of Seagrasses in Sequestering CO2 (Seagrass Blue Carbon)

Principal Investigator:

Richard C. Zimmerman (Old Dominion University, ODU)

Co-Principal Investigator:

David J. Burdige (Old Dominion University, ODU)

BCO-DMO Data Manager:

Nancy Copley (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, WHOI BCO-DMO)

Version:

Version Date:

2018-10-10

Restricted:

Validated:

Yes

Current State:

Final no updates expected

Summary of carbon and nitrogen concentrations and isotope ratios from samples of eelgrass from Virginia Coastal Lagoons and turtlegrass from St George Sound FL

Abstract:

This dataset includes a summary of results of carbon and nitrogen analyses on seagrasses collected in the Virginia Coastal Lagoons and from St. George Sound FL. Mean carbon and nitrogen concentrations and their isotope ratios are reported for leaf and root/rhizome samples. Also reported are the standard deviation, standard error, number of samples in the means, and the 95% confidence limits.

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Archival Copy

Version Date	Archive	Persistent Identifier (PID)	Date PID Issued
2018-10-10	Marine Biological Laboratory/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Library (MBLWHOI DLA)	10.1575/1912/bco-dmo.746344.1	2019-03-20

Description

Methods & Sampling

Seagrass samples were collected randomly from each site by hand using 6" diameter PVC cores pounded into the sediment. Intact plants, including roots and rhizomes, were separated from the sediment and organic debris. The green shoots were separated from roots & rhizomes, rinsed in fresh water and dried separately at -60° C. Dried samples were ground in a mortar and pestle using liquid nitrogen and re-dried. The dry powder was analyzed for percent Carbon, percent Nitrogen, delta-13C, and delta-15N by the Stable Isotope Facility, U.C. Davis.

Samples were collected by hand, using hand tools. Chemical and isotope analyses were performed by the Stable Isotope Facility, UC Davis using a PDZ Europa ANCA-GSL elemental analyzer interfaced to a PDZ Europa 20-20 isotope ratio mass spectrometer (Sercon Ltd., Cheshire, UK).

Data were segregated by location, tissue type, and species. Means and errors were calculated from 10 to 90 replicate samples (separate plants).

Data Processing Description

BCO-DMO Processing Notes:
- added conventional header with dataset name, PI name, version date
- modified parameter names to conform with BCO-DMO naming conventions
- reformatted to a flat table (moved lat and lon to separate columns from Location); repeated the Tissue type values to blank cells.
- added the latitude and longitude for Spider Bay, obtained from Samples dataset

Data Files

File
summary_CN.csv (Comma Separated Values (.csv), 4.04 KB) MD5:d77c69bd3ae4a8d5d35aed21bc074700 Primary data file for dataset ID 746344

More Information about this dataset

Funding Sources

Funding Source	Award Number
NSF Division of Ocean Sciences	OCE-1633951
NSF Division of Ocean Sciences	OCE-1635403

Deployments

None available yet

Instruments

Elemental Analyzer

Supplied Name: PDZ Europa ANCA-GSL elemental analyzer

Supplied Description:

Used for chemical and isotope analyses.

Instrument Type

Generic Name: Elemental Analyzer

Community Identifier: http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/L05/current/LAB01/

Generic Description:

Instruments that quantify carbon, nitrogen and sometimes other elements by combusting the sample at very high temperature and assaying the resulting gaseous oxides. Usually used for samples including organic material.

Isotope-ratio Mass Spectrometer

Supplied Name: PDZ Europa 20-20 isotope ratio mass spectrometer (Sercon Ltd., Cheshire, UK)

Supplied Description:

Used for chemical and isotope analyses.

Instrument Type

Generic Name: Isotope-ratio Mass Spectrometer

Acronym: IR Mass Spec; IRMS

Community Identifier: http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/L05/current/LAB16/

Generic Description:

The Isotope-ratio Mass Spectrometer is a particular type of mass spectrometer used to measure the relative abundance of isotopes in a given sample (e.g. VG Prism II Isotope Ratio Mass-Spectrometer).

Parameters

Date and time formats are described in python strftime() syntax.

Supplied Name	Supplied description	Supplied Units	Standard Name
Location	Location of sample collection	unitless	site
lat	latitude; north is positive	decimal degrees	lat
lon	longitude; east is postive	decimal degrees	lon
Tissue	type of plant tissue that was analyzed	unitless	sample_type
value	statistical parameter being reported	unitless	no_bcodmo_term
d13C	the ratio of stable isotopes 13C:12C	unitless	d13C
d15N	the ratio of stable isotopes 15N:14N	unitless	d15N
pcnt_C_g_per_gDW	percent Carbon in sample dry weight	unitless (grams/grams)	C
pcnt_N_g_per_gDW	percent Nitrogen in sample dry weight	unitless (grams/grams)	N
C_to_N	Carbon to Nitrogen ratio	unitless	C_to_N
date_collected	date that the samples were collected; formatted as yyyy-mm	unitless	date