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Carbon Pools And Profiles In Wetland Soils: The Effect Of Climate And Wetland Type

Bernal, Blanca

Abstract Details

2008, Master of Science, Ohio State University, Natural Resources.
Wetlands are a large terrestrial carbon pool and play an important role in global carbon cycles as natural carbon sinks. Previous carbon studies have mainly focused on boreal peatlands; little is known about carbon pools in temperate and tropical wetlands and their soil profiles. This study analyzes the variation of soil carbon with depth in two temperate (Ohio) and three tropical (humid and dry) wetlands in Costa Rica, and compares their total soil C pool as a first step toward determining C accumulation in wetland soils. The results indicate that these temperate wetlands have significantly greater (P < 0.01) C pools (17.6 kg C m-2) than wetlands located in tropical climates (9.7 kg C m-2) in the top 24 cm of soil. Carbon profiles showed a rapid decrease of concentrations with soil depth in the tropical sites, whereas in the temperate wetlands they tended to increase with depth, up to a maximum at 18-24 cm, after which they started decreasing. The two wetlands in Ohio had about ten times the mean total C concentration of adjacent upland soils (e. g., in Gahanna Woods, 161 g C kg-1 were measured in the wetland, and 17 g C kg-1 in the upland site), and their soil C pools were significantly higher (P < 0.01). Among the five wetland study sites, three main wetland types were identified – isolated forested, riverine flow-through, and slow-flow slough. In the top 24 cm of soil, isolated forested wetlands had the greatest pool (10.8 kg C m-2), significantly higher (P < 0.05) than the other two types (7.9 kg C m-2 in the flow-though and 8.0 kg C m-2 in the slough), indicating that the type of organic matter entering into the system and the type of wetland may be key factors defining its soil C pool. The flow-through wetland in Ohio (Old Woman Creek) showed a significantly higher C pool (P < 0.05) in the permanently flooded location (18.5 kg C m-2), than in the edge location with fluctuating hydrology, where the soil is inttermitently flooded (14.6 kg C m-2).
William Mitsch (Advisor)
Rattan Lal (Committee Member)
Richard Dick (Committee Member)
99 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Bernal, B. (2008). Carbon Pools And Profiles In Wetland Soils: The Effect Of Climate And Wetland Type [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1218226611

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Bernal, Blanca. Carbon Pools And Profiles In Wetland Soils: The Effect Of Climate And Wetland Type. 2008. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1218226611.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Bernal, Blanca. "Carbon Pools And Profiles In Wetland Soils: The Effect Of Climate And Wetland Type." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2008. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1218226611

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)