exploring carbon in wetland soil - erinbell

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Exploring Wetland erin bell, Salish Kootenai College Rebekah Brassfield, University of Montana Carbon Stock Lemlmtš, Hu sukiⱡq̓ukni to the Confederated Salish + Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) for including me at Salish Kootenai College (SKC), and for allowing me, a euro-settler, research access and guidance for this project. Thank you to my SPAW colleagues Logan Williams, Phil Rodgers, Noah José Vargas, and mentor Rebekah Brassfield. Thank you to the Flathead Lake Bio Station, to SKC wetland researchers Mariah Durglo and Victoria White, and to professors Chris Frissell and Georgia Smies. I am grateful to the National Science Foundation for funding this learning experience. Why this Research? • “We must do all that we can to protect wetlands, and… to By considering restore those that have been damaged.”1 – CSKT elders aspects of wetland Prolonged H2O saturation • Wetlands act as watershed kidneys, keeping water clean, anearobic soil CSKT Reservation they provide countless organisms essential habitat, they are carbon cycles that slower decomposition of plants increased C available for flux and integral with Séliš, QÍispé and Ksanka cultural-spiritual ways. are well understood, longer-term storage. 5 • Mature wetlands typically store carbon (C) in a manner that we can guess that GHG fluctuation helps reduce Green House Gas (GHG).2 higher C density in • Few US wetland mitigation policies include C or other GHG aerobic in their definition of functional wetlands. This research is a shallower soil is a anaerobic small step towards understanding appropriate GHG- part of expected flux. inclusive policy, in CKST wetlands and beyond. C to flux cycle C to storage Soil Depth + Carbon Stock in EPA’s NWCA, Wetland Soil-Chemisty Data 3 Soil depth and age are known to have strong correlation. Carbon spikes are seen at specific depth-age points. Further Extreme spikes may relate with default-depth in recording methods. What % of sand + pH levels correlate with wetlands that hold more Smaller spikes may reflect past environmental events, such as fire, CS? Are there any significant relationships between watershed resulting in boons of C input. Further analysis needed. quality and wetland CS? Or, between CS and abundance of integral species such as beavers? Many questions remain. CS is just one aspect of GHG concerns. To facilitate decisions, such Generalized Additive Model (GAM) as determining appropriate mitigation ratios that include GHG, • Our fit GAM found depth, sand, and pH to be statistically understanding C and other GHG emissions will also be necessary. significant predictors of carbon stock (CS) density The CSKT Wetland Department is currently considering what, next, • GAM predicts with increased soil depth, CS density decreases research question is most appropriate. Together, we aim to • GAM matches depth-stock analysis conduct field studies Aug – Oct, 2022. We hope our research contributes in protecting culturally What Does This Mean? important areas, and adds care to the wetlands themselves. Seeing higher C density in shallower soil can be misleading, for 1. Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. CSKT Wetlands conservation program. Wetlands Conservation Program. [accessed 2022 Jul 21]. literature indicates that 65% or more of wetland C is found in deeper https://csktnrd.org/ep/wetlands-conservation-program soil.3, 4 This means we must continue to protect mature wetlands. 2. Pierre, T., & Thompson, B. S. (2020, August 14). Climate change mitigation potential of wetlands and the cost-effectiveness of their restoration. Interface Focus. Retrieved July 24, 2022, from https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsfs.2019.0129 3. Nahlik, A., and M.S. Fennessy. (2016). National Wetlands Conditions Assessment (NWCA) 2011 Soil Chemistry Data. This dataset is associated with the following publication: Carbon storage in US wetlands. Nature Communications. Nature Publishing Group, London, UK, 7: 1-9. [accessed 2022 Jul 21]. Learning more about significant C density predictors, and continuing https://www.epa.gov/national-aquatic-resource-surveys/nwca 4. Nahlik AM, Fennessy MS. Carbon storage in US wetlands. Nature News. 2016 Dec 13 [accessed 2022 Jul 21]. https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms13835 to understand C spiking along depth, may help restored and created 5. Rolando J. Organic carbon is mostly stored in deep soil and only affected byland use in its superficial layers: A case study. [accessed 2022 Jul 21]. https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/agg2.20135 wetlands to become GHG net-negative, more quickly. 6. Kolka R, Trettin C. Second State of the Carbon Cycle Report: Chapter 13: Current understanding of wetland stocks and fluxes. NCA4. 1970 Jan 1 [accessed 2022 Jul 21]. https://carbon2018.globalchange.gov/report_section/13/13_3/ Special thanks to the National Science Foundation for supporting summer research experiences for undergraduates! NSF# 2054175 REU SITE ON SUSTAINABLE LAND AND WATER RESOURCES