The goal of this project is to measure Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from wetlands and quantify the effects of weather, vegetation structure, and water level dynamics on components of the GHG budget of the wetland systems. To do this a combination of experimental and modeling tasks will be employed. Two distinct urban temperate wetland ecosystems, one in Ohio, a freshwater wetland, and one in New Jersey, a tidal salt marsh, will be studied. Methods combine direct measurements of CO2 and CH4 in the air over the two wetland systems, measurements of CH4 emissions in chambers, and measurements of wetland vegetation structure and ecophysiology in the context of an existing biosphere-atmosphere model. As the two wetlands to be investigated have been constructed or restored, all aspects of ecological engineering will be assessed for their effects on GHG emissions. The data collected in the wetlands will be used to parameterize the GHG emission module in the ecosystem model. This can be used as a planning tool to predict GHG budgets in different climates, wetland designs, and management practices. In addition to two Ph.D. candidates, two undergraduate students participating in the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) will be trained in climate change science through this project.
Bruce K. Hamilton 6/29/10
