Carbon Storage In Delmarva Bay Wetlands.

The state of Maryland has experienced wetland loss of approximately 73%.  Agriculture is the primary land use  on the Delmarva Peninsula, and it has had a great impact on depressional wetlands called Delmarva Bays.  The objective of this study was to quantify the impact that drainage and cultivation have had on the quantity of carbon stored in these depressional wetlands when converted to agriculture, and to estimate the potential carbon sequestration if these altered depressions were restored as wetlands.   The study included five pairs of Delmarva Bays (natural and agricultural) that were selected based upon similar morphometry.  At each site carbon stocks were quantified in pedons located in the basin, at the hydric soil transition and on the rim.  Carbon pools will be compared between the paired depressions with contrasting land uses to determine the impact that drainage and cultivation has had on carbon stocks, and this will be used to assess the potential carbon storage upon restoration.  This difference will be applied to GIS study on the population of Delmarva Bays and land use to determine how much carbon can be sequestered at various scenarios.  This could be applied to promote carbon budgets and alleviate carbon emissions.