Carbon Storage in Different Wetland Habitats
Poster Number
13
Format
Poster Presentation
Faculty Mentor Name
Mary Kay Camarillo
Faculty Mentor Department
Civil Engineering & Environmental Engineering
Additional Faculty Mentor Name
William Stringfellow
Abstract/Artist Statement
Soils play an important role in greenhouse gas inventories and in climate change because more carbon is contained in soil than is held in vegetation and in the atmosphere. Wetlands cover only about 4% to 6% of the world’s land surface, but they provide 40 percent of the area for the earth’s renewable processes such as water filtration and carbon sequestration (Ayoade, 2003). Restoring wetlands could potentially play an important role in carbon sequestration; however, there is not a comprehensive understanding of carbon storage in wetlands and how different types of wetlands store carbon. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that carbon storage would be higher in permanent wetlands than seasonal wetlands and upland areas. Our study site was in the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, located in the Central Valley of California. The constituents measured included elemental carbon, elemental nitrogen, elemental sulfur, iron, phosphate, and organic matter. There was a linear relationship between soil bulk density and increasing depth, as expected. The relation between carbon density and depth was very similar for permanent wetlands, seasonal wetlands, and upland areas. The measured carbon densities in the top 0.35 m averaged 12.2 kg/m3 for permanent wetlands, 17.0 kg/m3 for seasonal wetlands, and 22.3 kg/m3 for upland sites. These results did not support our hypothesis, as uplands and seasonal wetlands have higher carbon storage compared to permanent wetlands. More research at various types of wetlands is needed to understand to how moisture affects the carb on sequestration of wetlands and grassland soils.
Location
DeRosa University Center, Ballroom
Start Date
26-4-2014 2:00 PM
End Date
26-4-2014 4:00 PM
Carbon Storage in Different Wetland Habitats
DeRosa University Center, Ballroom
Soils play an important role in greenhouse gas inventories and in climate change because more carbon is contained in soil than is held in vegetation and in the atmosphere. Wetlands cover only about 4% to 6% of the world’s land surface, but they provide 40 percent of the area for the earth’s renewable processes such as water filtration and carbon sequestration (Ayoade, 2003). Restoring wetlands could potentially play an important role in carbon sequestration; however, there is not a comprehensive understanding of carbon storage in wetlands and how different types of wetlands store carbon. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that carbon storage would be higher in permanent wetlands than seasonal wetlands and upland areas. Our study site was in the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, located in the Central Valley of California. The constituents measured included elemental carbon, elemental nitrogen, elemental sulfur, iron, phosphate, and organic matter. There was a linear relationship between soil bulk density and increasing depth, as expected. The relation between carbon density and depth was very similar for permanent wetlands, seasonal wetlands, and upland areas. The measured carbon densities in the top 0.35 m averaged 12.2 kg/m3 for permanent wetlands, 17.0 kg/m3 for seasonal wetlands, and 22.3 kg/m3 for upland sites. These results did not support our hypothesis, as uplands and seasonal wetlands have higher carbon storage compared to permanent wetlands. More research at various types of wetlands is needed to understand to how moisture affects the carb on sequestration of wetlands and grassland soils.