Coastal mangrove creeks offer an important interface between marine and terrestrial ecosystems. By studying tropical mangrove creeks we hope to quantify carbon transport through both CO2 degassing as well as potential avenues of carbon sequestration. This knowledge will serve to assist in better understanding carbon cycling in tropical mangrove environments which are significant carbon sinks. We investigated whether Ground Creek, located in Bocas del Toro, Panama, is a source or a sink for CO2, the impact alkalinity and DIC exports have on marine ecosystems based on diel and tidal cycles, and the tidal impacts on CO2 in Ground Creek. Factors such as temperature, water depth, and water output have been proven to impact pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), DIC, alkalinity, and pCO2 as well as ecosystem respiration and productivity. We measured and calculated the above parameters at a sample site every two hours for a 24-hour period. Here, we compare the effects of heavy rainfall on diel and tidal cycles in Ground Creek and alkalinity and DIC exports which are influenced by sulfate reduction, the anoxic metabolic pathway primarily found in mangrove creeks.
