CAREER: Eco-geomorphic response of coastal carbon to accelerated sea level rise

该项目的目标是确定沿海沼泽地中封存的碳将如何应对海平面上升。这项研究将开发一个潮汐沼泽碳循环的计算机模型，该模型将用从切萨皮克湾地区收集的数据进行测试。这项工作将阐明世界上最大的碳汇之一将如何应对气候变化，并帮助土地管理者评估沼泽迁移到淹没高地将抵消海岸侵蚀造成的损失的程度。沼泽和其他浅水海岸环境约占所有海洋碳汇的一半，但人们对这些碳将如何应对海平面上升和不断增长的沿海基础设施（如堤坝）知之甚少。对历史地图和沼泽土壤的分析将用于确定富碳沼泽土壤在淹没土地上的发展速度，以及切萨皮克沼泽是否因上世纪海平面上升而增长或收缩。然后，将使用计算机建模来预测沼泽面积和土壤碳含量将如何对未来海平面上升作出反应。该项目将吸引当地社区大学和美洲印第安学生的参与，并为土地管理者和决策者提供有关重要沿海生态系统的命运和价值的信息。

The objective of this project is to determine how the carbon sequestered in coastal marshes will respond to sea level rise. The research will develop a computer model of tidal marsh carbon cycling that will be tested with data collected from across the Chesapeake Bay region. This work will illuminate how one of the world's largest carbon sinks will respond to climate change, and help land managers evaluate the degree to which marsh migration into drowning uplands will offset losses due to coastal erosion.Marshes and other shallow-water coastal environments are responsible for about half of all marine carbon sequestration, but little is known about how this carbon will respond to sea level rise and growing coastal infrastructure such as levees. Analysis of historical maps and marsh soils will be used to determine how fast carbon-rich marsh soils are developing on drowning land, and whether Chesapeake marshes have grown or contracted in response to the last century of sea level rise. Computer modeling will then be used to predict how marsh size and soil carbon content will respond to future sea level rise. The project will engage local community college and American Indian students, and provide land managers and policy makers with information about the fate and value of a prominent coastal ecosystem.