Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Modeled Co2 Emissions From Coastal Wetland Transitions To Other Land Uses: Tidal Marshes, Mangrove Forests, And Seagrass Beds, Catherine E. Lovelock, James W. Fourqurean, James T. Morris

Faculty Publications

The sediments of coastal wetlands contain large stores of carbon which are vulnerable to oxidation once disturbed, resulting in high levels of CO2 emissions that may be avoided if coastal ecosystems are conserved or restored. We used a simple model to estimate CO2 emissions from mangrove forests, seagrass beds, and tidal marshes based on known decomposition rates for organic matter in these ecosystems under either oxic or anoxic conditions combined with assumptions of the proportion of sediment carbon being deposited in either oxic or anoxic environments following a disturbance of the habitat. Our model found that over 40 years after …