Carbon dioxide emissions and methane flux from forested wetland soils of the Great Dismal Swamp, USA

Abstract

The Great Dismal Swamp, a freshwater forested peatland, has accumulated massive amounts of soil carbon since the postglacial period. Logging and draining have severely altered the hydrology and forest composition, leading to drier soils, accelerated oxidation, and vulnerability to disturbance. The once dominant Atlantic white cedar, cypress, and pocosin forest types are now fragmented, resulting in maple-gum forest communities replacing over half the remaining area. In order to determine the effect of environmental variabes on carbon emissions, this study observes 2 years of CO2 and CH4 soil flux, which will also help inform future management decisions. Soil emissions were measured using opaque, non-permanent chambers set into the soil. As soil moisture increased by 1 unit of soil moisture content, CH4 flux increased by 457 μg CH4–C/m2/h. As soil temperature increased by 1 °C, CO2 emissions increased by 5109 μg CO2–C/m2/h. The area of Atlantic white cedar in the study boundary has an average yearly flux of 8.6 metric tons (t) of carbon from CH4 and 3270 t of carbon from CO2; maple-gum has an average yearly flux of 923 t of carbon from CH4 and 59,843 t of carbon from CO2; pocosin has an average yearly flux of 431 t of carbon from CH4 and 15,899 t of carbon from CO2. Total Cha−1year−1 ranged from 1845 kg of Cha−1year−1 in maple-gum to 2024 kg Cha−1year−1 for Atlantic white cedar. These results show that soil carbon gas flux depends on soil moisture, temperature and forest type, which are affected by anthropogenic activities.