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Title: PRAIRIE WETLANDS OF THE UNITED STATES IMPORTANT FOR CARBON STORAGE: IMPLICATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH AND MANAGEMENT

Author
item EULISS, N - USDI-USGS-NPWRC
item GLEASON, R - USDI-USGS-NPWRC
item Olness, Alan
item MCDOUGAL, RHONDA - DUCKS UNLIMITED, CANADA
item MURKIN, HENRY - DUCKS UNLIMITED, CANADA
item ROBARTS, RICHARD - ENVIRON. CANADA-NWRI
item BOURBONNIERE, RICHARD - ENVIRON. CANADA-NWRI
item WARNES, BARRY - UNIV. OF WATERLOO, CANADA

Submitted to: Global Climate Change Conference Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/27/2003
Publication Date: 11/21/2002
Citation: EULISS, N.H., GLEASON, R.A., OLNESS, A.E., MCDOUGAL, R.L., MURKIN, H.R., ROBARTS, R.D., BOURBONNIERE, R., WARNES, B. PRAIRIE WETLANDS OF THE UNITED STATES IMPORTANT FOR CARBON STORAGE: IMPLICATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH AND MANAGEMENT. PROCEEDINGS OF GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE. 2002. P. 67.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Wetlands in the prairie pothole region (PPR) of North America are generally assumed to be inconsequential to the total wetland carbon pool. However, this assumption has been made without any supporting data. In an effort to determine what the carbon stocks of prairie wetlands in the United States might be and if they represent a significant pool, we evaluated the potential of these wetlands to sequester carbon. Previous research suggests that prairie wetlands traditionally functioned as net sinks for atmospheric carbon, but cultivation, the current principal land use, has shifted their function to net sources of atmospheric carbon. Land-use changes that lead to protection of existing wetland carbon stocks, restoration of new wetland stocks, and cessation of activities that remove carbon stocks such as conventional agriculture are expected to have a significant impact on total wetland carbon stocks in this region. In the United States, over 60% of the PPR wetland area has been converted to cropland. Our analysis suggests that greater amounts of atmospheric carbon could be stored in wetlands in the PPR through restoration programs than by converting all cropland in the region to no-tillage agriculture even though the acreage of wetlands is much smaller. In addition, restored prairie wetlands are not expected to exacerbate trace greenhouse gas emissions; limited data from the glaciated prairie region of northeastern Germany demonstrate that restored wetlands emit less methane and nitrous oxide than farmed wetlands. Assuming the same relationship found in Germany holds for the United States, reduction in trace gas emissions would provide an additional greenhouse gas benefit from restored wetlands. Restored wetlands in the United States PPR are generally situated within large blocks of land (e.g., Conservation Reserve and Wetland Reserve Programs) and hence receive little or no agricultural enrichment to exacerbate trace gas emission. A market, recently valued by the World Bank at $33.3 trillion U.S. dollars, is being developed to facilitate trading of carbon credits generated from various emission reduction practices, including carbon sequestration. The finding that prairie wetlands sequester carbon provides an additional opportunity for industry to partner with private landowners and conservation agencies to restore wetlands. Additional research on wetland carbon storage and trace-gas flux in relation to land-use change will be required to reduce risks to investors and maximize opportunities to generate carbon credits for industrial entities.