Delta Wetlands and Resilience: Blue Carbon and Marsh Accretion
Blue carbon ecosystems (BCEs) are coastal ecosystems, such as tidal marshes, mangroves, and seagrasses, with manageable and atmospherically significant carbon stocks and fluxes. The tidal marshes and scrub-shrub wetlands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta) of California are examples of BCEs. The Delta is a 2,400 square kilometer tidal freshwater region located at the landward end of the San Francisco Estuary. The area used to be an extensive peatland, but was mostly drained for agriculture in the late 1880s and early 1900s. Wetland restoration, which has been underway for some time, has the potential to expand important habitat for biodiversity and mitigate land-surface subsidence and carbon loss that has occurred subsequent to drainage.
The ability of wetlands in different areas of the Delta to store carbon, build elevation, and halt land-surface subsidence is not well understood. This has hindered scientists and managers from optimizing wetland restoration to maximize ecological and societal benefits. This project seeks to address this knowledge gap by combining data on peat formation processes through time, digital elevation models, and marsh accretion and subsidence modeling to better understand the historical and current Delta carbon sink and the future sustainability of tidal wetlands in the region.
Objective
The main objectives of this project are to quantify carbon storage and greenhouse gas emissions in the Delta region and estimate the future sustainability of tidal wetlands under sea-level rise.
Science Plan
This project is a collaboration between the USGS, the San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI), and Hydrofocus, Inc. There are two main tasks. In task 1, the USGS is working with SFEI and Hydrofocus, Inc. to estimate the current carbon sink and future carbon storage under different scenarios. In task 2, the USGS is working with Dr. James Morris of the University of South Carolina and SFEI to use the Coastal Wetland Equilibrium Model (CWEM) to project the future sustainability of tidal marshes in the Delta region.
Relevance and Benefits
This project addresses the Strategic Directions for U.S. Geological Survey Water Science, 2012– 2022, to predict changes in the quantity and quality of water resources in response to changing climate, population, land-use, and management scenarios. Both tasks of the project are strongly related to wetland sustainability under changing watershed conditions due to climate change, sea-level rise, and changing management scenarios.
With regard to regional science needs, this project addresses the following Science Action Areas of the Delta Science Program: (2) coordinating and integrating Delta science in a transparent manner, (3) enabling and promoting science synthesis, and (5) supporting effective adaptive management.
Timeline and Outcomes
Work on this project began in the spring of 2020. Final products are expected in the fall of 2022.
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
NASA-USGS National Blue Carbon Monitoring System
Blue carbon ecosystems (BCEs) are coastal ecosystems, such as tidal marshes, mangroves, and seagrasses, with manageable and atmospherically significant carbon stocks and fluxes. The tidal marshes and scrub-shrub wetlands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta) of California are examples of BCEs. The Delta is a 2,400 square kilometer tidal freshwater region located at the landward end of the San Francisco Estuary. The area used to be an extensive peatland, but was mostly drained for agriculture in the late 1880s and early 1900s. Wetland restoration, which has been underway for some time, has the potential to expand important habitat for biodiversity and mitigate land-surface subsidence and carbon loss that has occurred subsequent to drainage.
The ability of wetlands in different areas of the Delta to store carbon, build elevation, and halt land-surface subsidence is not well understood. This has hindered scientists and managers from optimizing wetland restoration to maximize ecological and societal benefits. This project seeks to address this knowledge gap by combining data on peat formation processes through time, digital elevation models, and marsh accretion and subsidence modeling to better understand the historical and current Delta carbon sink and the future sustainability of tidal wetlands in the region.
Objective
The main objectives of this project are to quantify carbon storage and greenhouse gas emissions in the Delta region and estimate the future sustainability of tidal wetlands under sea-level rise.
Science Plan
This project is a collaboration between the USGS, the San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI), and Hydrofocus, Inc. There are two main tasks. In task 1, the USGS is working with SFEI and Hydrofocus, Inc. to estimate the current carbon sink and future carbon storage under different scenarios. In task 2, the USGS is working with Dr. James Morris of the University of South Carolina and SFEI to use the Coastal Wetland Equilibrium Model (CWEM) to project the future sustainability of tidal marshes in the Delta region.
Relevance and Benefits
This project addresses the Strategic Directions for U.S. Geological Survey Water Science, 2012– 2022, to predict changes in the quantity and quality of water resources in response to changing climate, population, land-use, and management scenarios. Both tasks of the project are strongly related to wetland sustainability under changing watershed conditions due to climate change, sea-level rise, and changing management scenarios.
With regard to regional science needs, this project addresses the following Science Action Areas of the Delta Science Program: (2) coordinating and integrating Delta science in a transparent manner, (3) enabling and promoting science synthesis, and (5) supporting effective adaptive management.
Timeline and Outcomes
Work on this project began in the spring of 2020. Final products are expected in the fall of 2022.
Below are other science projects associated with this project.