Article, 2024

Enhanced sequestration of carbon in ocean sediments as a means to reduce global emissions: A case study from a coastal wetland restoration project in the Liaohe Delta, Northeast China

Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, ISSN 0031-0182, 1872-616X, Volume 648, Page 112286, 10.1016/j.palaeo.2024.112286

Contributors

He, Lei [1] [2] [3] Ye, Si-Yuan (Corresponding author) [1] [2] [3] [4] Yuan, Hong-Ming [1] [2] Yu, Changbin [5] Ding, Xi Gui [1] [2] Zhao, Guangming [1] [2] [3] Pei, Shaofeng 0000-0001-5420-6264 [1] [2] [3] Wang, Jin [1] Yang, Shixiong 0000-0002-9929-3151 [1] [2] [3] Yu, Xueyang 0000-0001-6623-0165 [6] Brix, Hans 0000-0003-2771-2983 [7] Laws, Edward Allen 0000-0002-4893-9311 [8]

Affiliations

  1. [1] Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology
    2. [NORA names: China; Asia, East];
  2. [2] Ministry of Natural Resources
    3. [NORA names: China; Asia, East];
  3. [3] Laboratory for Marine Geology, Laoshan Laboratory, Qingdao 266061, Shandong, China
    4. [NORA names: China; Asia, East];
  4. [4] Shandong University
    5. [NORA names: China; Asia, East];
  5. [5] Panjin Institute of Wetland Science, Panjin 124000, Liaoning, China
    6. [NORA names: China; Asia, East];

Abstract

Enhanced sequestration of carbon in ocean sediments is a promising approach to mitigate the adverse effects of climate warming. To assess the capacity of coastal regions to uptake and bury carbon, a wetland restoration project was carried out in the degraded coastal wetlands of the Liaohe Delta between 2011 and 2013. A 13.33-ha degraded salt marsh was selected to create two enhanced carbon sink experimental areas, one dominated by Phragmites australis and the other dominated by Suaeda salsa. Improvements to the wetland matrix, hydrological processes, and vegetation colonization were designed and constructed. Results revealed that after the three-year restoration effort, the biomass of vegetation in the demonstration area was 1.2–4.0 times that of a natural wetland, and the rate of organic carbon sequestration in the sediments was about 60–80% of the rate in a natural salt marsh. We show that restoring vegetation can significantly increase the rate of sedimentation and thus enhance the carbon sequestration capacity of a wetland dominated by S. salsa or P. australis. Carbon sequestration capacity can be restored more rapidly in salt marsh wetlands than in mangrove wetlands, and we argue that restoration of salt marsh wetlands is an urgent task suitable for the application of large-scale ocean carbon sequestration technologies.

Keywords

China, Liaohe, Liaohe Delta, Northeast, Northeast China, P. australis, Phragmites, Phragmites australis, S. salsa, Suaeda, Suaeda salsa, adverse effects, adverse effects of climate warming, applications, area, australis, biomass, biomass of vegetation, buried carbonates, capacity, carbon, carbon sequestration, carbon sequestration capacity, carbon sequestration technologies, case study, cases, climate warming, coastal regions, coastal wetland restoration projects, coastal wetlands, colon, degraded coastal wetlands, degraded salt marsh, delta, demonstration, demonstration area, effects of climate warming, efforts, emission, enhanced sequestration, experimental area, global emissions, hydrological processes, improvement, mangrove wetlands, marsh, marsh wetlands, matrix, natural salt marshes, natural wetlands, ocean, ocean sediments, organic carbon sequestration, process, project, rate, rate of sedimentation, region, restoration, restoration efforts, restoration projects, restore vegetation, results, salsa, salt, salt marsh wetlands, salt marshes, sediments, sequestration, sequestration capacity, sequestration of carbon, sequestration technologies, study, task, technology, uptake, vegetation, vegetation colonization, warming, wetland matrix, wetland restoration projects, wetlands

Funders

  • National Natural Science Foundation of China
  • China Geological Survey
  • United States Geological Survey

Data Provider: Digital Science

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