Wetlands are found in a variety of environments from high latitudes to the equator and at a wide range of elevations.
Despite the diversity in their climatic and geomorphological settings, one key feature unifying them all together is that their soils are either partially or completely water-saturated.
This ecohydrological characteristic has physiological and biogeochemical implications which both contribute to making most wetlands efficient long-term carbon sinks.
Some examples of coastal wetlands - also called blue carbon ecosystems - are mangroves, saltmarshes, and seagrasses.
Some examples of terrestrial wetlands are northern and tropical peatlands, freshwater marshes, and paramos.
Wetlands cover less than 4% of the terrestrial land but store a quantity of carbon in their soil and biomass that is comparable to what is presently available in the atmosphere.
When undisturbed, most wetlands fix and store atmospheric CO₂ at higher rates than other ecosystems.
The ongoing destruction of these carbon-rich ecosystems is releasing large quantities of carbon dioxide (CO₂) to the atmosphere that should be managed and eventually prevented.
Wetlands also provide various ecosystem functions and services, including biodiversity habitat, water regulation, food provisioning, and cultural services.
Thus, the conservation, management and restoration of wetlands appear like a rational choice to effectively mitigate atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions.
The Project Drawdown has identified the protection and restoration of both Coastal Wetlands and Peatlands among the top 60 most effective solutions to reduced atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations.
However, there are methodological, social, economic and governance constraints preventing wetlands conservation, management and restoration at scale.
The Wetland Carbon Lab intends to address these challenges by providing science-based evidence to demonstrate that wetlands matter for climate change mitigation, adaptation and sustainable development goals.
References :
Taillardat, Friess, Lupascu. (2018). Mangrove blue carbon strategies for climate change mitigation are most effective at the national scale. Biology Letters, 14(10). https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2018.0251
Taillardat, Moore, Sasmito. (Accepted). Assessing the contribution of wetlands to the contemporary carbon budget and carbon markets (Eds. I. Maddock & A. Dixon), The Routledge Handbook of Wetlands. Routledge.