Plants mediate carbon cycling. Plants take in carbon dioxide and store that carbon in biomass, can act as vents of soil microbe-produced carbon dioxide and methane to the atmosphere, and can leach carbon into the soil. Coastal ecosystems, especially salt marshes, are model ecosystems for studying plant-mediated carbon dynamics. As long as geomorphic feedbacks aren't overwhelmed and coastal wetlands keep pace with sea-level rise, they have one of the highest carbon sequestration rates of any ecosystem type.
With the pressing need to reduce climate change impacts on socio-ecological systems, it is more important than ever to understand how plants mediate carbon cycling in 'blue carbon' coastal ecosystems. Our research contributes to this understanding and to finding nature-based solutions to the climate crisis by focusing on the processes controlling soil carbon sequestration/storage and greenhouse gas fluxes in coastal wetlands. See below for project summaries addressing the overarching questions we're pursuing:
How can land management (including restoration) increase carbon sequestration in coastal wetlands?
How do environmental drivers control plant-mediated carbon cycling in coastal wetlands?
With the pressing need to reduce climate change impacts on socio-ecological systems, it is more important than ever to understand how plants mediate carbon cycling in 'blue carbon' coastal ecosystems. Our research contributes to this understanding and to finding nature-based solutions to the climate crisis by focusing on the processes controlling soil carbon sequestration/storage and greenhouse gas fluxes in coastal wetlands. See below for project summaries addressing the overarching questions we're pursuing:
How can land management (including restoration) increase carbon sequestration in coastal wetlands?
How do environmental drivers control plant-mediated carbon cycling in coastal wetlands?
How can land management (including restoration) increase carbon sequestration in coastal wetlands?
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Lower Joice Island Management. This project, funded by the Long Foundation and led by California Waterfowl Association, tests if management decisions (hydrologic regime, prescribed fire, plant community) in seasonal managed brackish wetlands can maximize carbon sequestration by increasing soil carbon storage and/or reducing methane emission in Suisun Marsh, California. Data collection and analyses are ongoing.
White Slough Restoration. This project, funded by the California State Coastal Conservancy, tests how carbon cycling develops after tidal wetland restoration in a high-salinity (>30 psu) setting in Humboldt Bay, California. The project also tests how land use influences carbon cycling, including fully tidal and diked wetlands. Data collection and analyses are ongoing. Dutch Slough Restoration. This project, funded by the California Department of Water Resources, tests how carbon cycling develops after tidal wetland restoration in a low-salinity (<2 psu) setting in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California. The project also tests how land use influences carbon cycling, including fully tidal and diked wetlands. Data collection and analyses are ongoing. A manuscript focused on greenhouse gas fluxes is in prep (Jones et al.). |
How do environmental drivers control plant-mediated carbon cycling in coastal wetlands?
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Terrestrial-Aquatic Interfaces of SF Bay-Delta. This project, funded by USGS Priority Ecosystem Sciences, explores how soil salinity, plant community, and inundation control soil carbon stocks across the terrestrial-aquatic interface in the northern San Francisco Bay-Delta. Analyses are ongoing.
Local Geomorphology in South SF Bay. This project, funded by the San Francisco Bay Regional Monitoring Program, tested the influence of local geomorphology on sediment dynamics and surface soil carbon stocks. Analyses are ongoing and a soil carbon-focused manuscript is in prep (Bristow et al.). LUMCON Experimental Diel Cycle. This experiment tested how the diel cycle, separate from tidal influence, controls plant-mediated greenhouse gas fluxes in an experimental salt marsh mesocosm facility in coastal Louisiana. A manuscript detailing this experiment is in prep (Jones et al.). WARC Experimental Climate Change. This experiment tested how increased atmospheric CO2 and sea-level rise influences salt marsh carbon stocks, decomposition rates, and greenhouse gas fluxes. This was carried out at the USGS Elevation CO2 Facility in Lafayette, Louisiana. The resulting manuscript was published in JGR: Biogeosciences (Jones et al. 2018). |
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