Understanding the Coupling of Greenhouse Gases (CH4, CO2, H2O) and Energy Fluxes over a Vulnerable Ecosystem: The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Peatland

University Of California-Berkeley, Berkeley CA

Investigators

Abstract

Temperate peatlands, such as those in the Sacramento -San Joaquin Delta (Ca) study site which is the focus of this project are hotspots of soil-carbon storage and biological diversity. They are additionally known to be vulnerable to climate change, land use, and altered water management practices. A comprehensive set of eddy covariance flux estimates for the carbon gases CH4 (methane), CO2 (carbon dioxide) and water vapor on daily, seasonal and interannual time scales will be measured and interpreted in the context of a suite of biotic (e.g. leaf-area index, plant type isotope discrimination, other edaphic and microbiological indicators) and abiotic (water table height, temperature, soil moisture, oxygen, hydrological, climatic, geohazards such as storms and earthquakes) processes. Soil biogeochemistry studies will be directed towards understanding how microbiological consortia of methanogens and methanotrophs affect the net flux of methane from these vulnerable wetland systems. Using these results, processes level models of peatland and wetland storage and emissions of carbon gases will be scaled up with remote sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques used to indicate vegetation type and net primary production, with the intention that these models be then extended and compared to peatlands in related ecosystems. Outreach activities of the project will include environmental education in this increasingly populated area as well as contributions to community decision making and land management issues. Connections to ongoing international activities such as the FLUXNET project as part of the ILEAPS (Integrated Land Ecosystem Atmosphere Processes Study) of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program (IGBP) are an important means of evaluating processes and feedbacks of carbon and water cycle components on a truly global scale. This work is supported under the NSF Carbon and Water in the Earth System solicitation, an interdisciplinary funding opportunity from the Directorate of Geosciences.