Presenter(s): Emil Sadofsky
Faculty Mentor(s): Scott Bridgham
Oral Session 2 M
Agricultural development has significantly decreased the extent of costal wetlands in the Pacific Northwest. Some previously developed wetlands have been restored, but the effects of restoration on their carbon cycling functions are still unknown. To better understand land use effects on carbon cycling, we compared soil carbon dynamics in restored and reference wetlands in the South Slough estuary in Coos Bay, Oregon. We measured soil carbon content and used radioisotope dating to calculate carbon pools and carbon accumulation rate, and we measured in situ carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) emissions in restored and reference wetlands to better understand carbon fluxes. To compare different methods of restoration, the restored sites were originally restored to different elevations. We found that the restored wetlands will have smaller and shallower carbon pools than reference sites. We also found that carbon accumulation will be fastest in the reference marsh. Among the restored marshes, we found that carbon accumulation is fastest in the low elevation marsh and slowest in the high marsh.