ORE-CZ: Methane emission from wetlands surrounding Lake Pontchartrain

ORE-CZ：庞恰特雷恩湖周围湿地的甲烷排放

• 批准号: 2228206
• 负责人: Samrat Dutta
• 金额: $ 19.98万
• 依托单位: Xavier University of Louisiana
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-09-01 至 2025-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2228206&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: ORE; CZ; Methane; emission; wetlands

Wetlands emit methane, a potent greenhouse gas. The characteristics of this emission depend on the individual characteristics of the wetland. In this research, the focus is on the wetlands of Lake Pontchartrain, which is one of the largest wetlands along the Gulf Coast of North America. These wetlands are under considerable stress due to erosion, construction of levees and canals, saltwater intrusion from the Gulf of Mexico, and urbanization. Against this backdrop, the specific research plan is to assess methane emissions from the soil at different locations along Lake Pontchartrain using infrared spectroscopy and compare the data to those reported in the literature for other wetlands. The research will also study the relation of the soil characteristics and the local environment with the observed emission pattern of the gas. The outcome of this work can show how the large wetlands around Lake Pontchartrain contribute to global methane emissions and the factors that drive the release of the gas from the investigated wetlands. Furthermore, the findings will provide information that can enable better management of wetlands and support Louisiana’s effort toward net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, which includes a plan to use restored wetlands as a sink for long-term carbon storage. This project provides research opportunities in STEM for undergraduate students enrolled at a Historically Black College and University, and it is supported in part by the HBCU-Undergraduate Program at the National Science Foundation.Wetlands contribute about 30% of global methane emissions and are thus a significant contributor to the accumulation of this greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. Despite many research reports, discrepancies between theoretical and measured methane estimation and patterns from individual wetlands are observed. Inconsistencies arise because methane emission from a particular wetland is dependent on water level, soil characteristics, vegetation type, and topography. This research focuses on assessing methane gas from wetlands around Lake Pontchartrain, one of the largest along the Gulf Coast of North America, which has seen a steady loss of wetland area and a gradual conversion of freshwater to saltwater vegetation types. A unique stressor to the wetlands is the urban sprawl of New Orleans and its suburbs, whose effluents impacts the wetlands. The plan is to use portable, user-friendly infrared-based devices to collect soil methane emissions under different conditions from various wetland locations surrounding Lake Pontchartrain and integrate the findings into the larger framework of carbon cycling from wetlands. To this end, the research will modify existing methane collection protocols, test soil characteristics, survey heavy metal contamination and assess the biological activity of the wetland soil. The objective is to understand the relation between stressors and the emission pattern of the gas from the wetlands. The result is expected to lead to better management of wetlands and support Louisiana’s plan to optimize the carbon sequestration potential through wetland restoration efforts.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

湿地释放出甲烷，一种强大的温室气体。这种排放的特征取决于湿地的个体特征。在这项研究中，重点是庞恰特雷恩湖的湿地，这是最大的湿地之一，沿着墨西哥湾沿岸的北美。由于侵蚀、堤坝和运河的建设、墨西哥湾的盐水入侵和城市化，这些湿地承受着相当大的压力。在此背景下，具体的研究计划是使用红外光谱法评估庞恰特雷恩湖沿着不同地点土壤的甲烷排放量，并将数据与文献中报告的其他湿地的数据进行比较。研究亦会研究土壤特性和当地环境与所观察到的气体排放模式之间的关系。这项工作的结果可以显示庞恰特雷恩湖周围的大型湿地如何促进全球甲烷排放，以及推动被调查湿地释放气体的因素。此外，研究结果将提供信息，可以更好地管理湿地，并支持路易斯安那州到2050年实现净零温室气体排放的努力，其中包括将恢复的湿地用作长期碳储存的汇的计划。 该项目为就读于一所历史悠久的黑人学院和大学的本科生提供了STEM研究机会，并得到了美国国家科学基金会HBCU本科生项目的部分支持。湿地贡献了全球甲烷排放量的约30%，因此是大气中这种温室气体积累的重要贡献者。尽管许多研究报告，理论和实测甲烷估计和模式从个别湿地之间的差异进行观察。湿地甲烷的排放量取决于水位、土壤特性、植被类型和地形。这项研究的重点是评估甲烷气体从Pontchartrain湖周围的湿地，其中一个最大的沿着北美墨西哥湾沿岸，已经看到了湿地面积的稳步损失和淡水逐渐转换为咸水植被类型。对湿地的一个独特的压力源是新奥尔良及其郊区的城市扩张，其污水影响湿地。该计划将使用便携式，用户友好的红外设备来收集庞恰特雷恩湖周围不同湿地位置在不同条件下的土壤甲烷排放量，并将调查结果纳入湿地碳循环的更大框架。为此，该研究将修改现有的甲烷收集协议，测试土壤特性，调查重金属污染并评估湿地土壤的生物活性。目的是了解压力源和气体从湿地的排放模式之间的关系。这一结果有望导致更好地管理湿地，并支持路易斯安那州的计划，以优化碳封存潜力，通过湿地恢复的努力。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得的支持，通过评估使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。