Murphy Anna E.

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Murphy
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Anna E.
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  • Preprint
    Quantifying the effects of commercial clam aquaculture on C and N cycling : an integrated ecosystem approach
    ( 2016-05) Murphy, Anna E. ; Emery, Kyle A. ; Anderson, Iris C. ; Pace, Michael L. ; Brush, Mark J. ; Rheuban, Jennie E.
    Increased interest in using bivalve cultivation to mitigate eutrophication requires a comprehensive understanding of the net carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) budgets associated with cultivation on an ecosystem scale. This study quantified C and N processes related to clam (Mercenaria mercenaria) aquaculture in a shallow coastal environment (Cherrystone Inlet, VA) where the industry has rapidly increased. Clam physiological rates were compared with basin-wide ecosystem fluxes including primary production, benthic nutrient regeneration, and respiration. Although clam beds occupy only 3% of the ecosystem’s surface area, clams filtered 7-44% of the system’s volume daily, consumed an annual average of 103% of the phytoplankton production, creating a large flux of particulate C and N to the sediments. Annually, N regenerated and C respired by clam and microbial metabolism in clam beds were ~3-fold and ~1.5-fold higher, respectively, than N and C removed through harvest. Due to the short water residence time, the low watershed load, and the close vicinity of clam beds to the mouth of Cherrystone Inlet, cultivated clams are likely subsidized by phytoplankton from the Chesapeake Bay. Consequently, much of the N released by mineralization associated with clam cultivation is ‘new’ N as it would not be present in the system without bivalve facilitation. Macroalgae that are fueled by the enhanced N regeneration from clams represents a eutrophying process resulting from aquaculture. This synthesis demonstrates the importance of considering impacts of bivalve aquaculture in an ecosystem context especially relative to the potential of bivalves to remove nutrients and enhance C sinks.
  • Article
    Not all nitrogen is created equal: differential effects of nitrate and ammonium enrichment in coastal wetlands
    (Oxford University Press, 2020-12-09) Bowen, Jennifer L. ; Giblin, Anne E. ; Murphy, Anna E. ; Bulseco, Ashley N. ; Deegan, Linda A. ; Johnson, David S. ; Nelson, James A. ; Mozdzer, Thomas J. ; Sullivan, Hillary L.
    Excess reactive nitrogen (N) flows from agricultural, suburban, and urban systems to coasts, where it causes eutrophication. Coastal wetlands take up some of this N, thereby ameliorating the impacts on nearshore waters. Although the consequences of N on coastal wetlands have been extensively studied, the effect of the specific form of N is not often considered. Both oxidized N forms (nitrate, NO3−) and reduced forms (ammonium, NH4+) can relieve nutrient limitation and increase primary production. However, unlike NH4+, NO3− can also be used as an electron acceptor for microbial respiration. We present results demonstrating that, in salt marshes, microbes use NO3− to support organic matter decomposition and primary production is less stimulated than when enriched with reduced N. Understanding how different forms of N mediate the balance between primary production and decomposition is essential for managing coastal wetlands as N enrichment and sea level rise continue to assail our coasts.