The role of short-term and long-term water level and wave variability in coastal carbon budgets

We investigated soil organic carbon dynamics at three freshwater coastal sites in the Laurentian Great Lakes using a simple carbon budget box model. Long-term carbon budgets (1939-2018) were developed using aerial photography and then compared to short-term carbon export (2018-2019) developed using drone data. This study puts forth a refined coastal carbon budget model that advances previous model iterations by: (1) examining spatial variability in carbon budgets, (2) including a temporally dynamic carbon inventory term, and (3) updating the erosional term. Half of the initial carbon stock of the combined sites was lost in the 80-year study period, which is severely imbalanced with the age of those coastal habitats (400-2000 cal years BP). Major periods of carbon loss corresponded to periods of elevated water level. Short-term loss of carbon during 2018-2019 corresponded to northeasterly extreme wave events during a period of above-average water level.