Terrestrial Wetland Function and Resilience Scientific Focus Area

Wetlands

wetland

An area of land that is periodically saturated with water, which influences the types of plants and animals that can live there. Wetlands include swamps, marshes, bogs, and other similar areas.

Source: A student's guide to Global Climate Change Source

are expected to release a lot of methane

methane

A hydrocarbon that is a primary component of natural gas. Methane is also a greenhouse gas (GHG), so its presence in the atmosphere affects the earth’s temperature and climate system

Source: EPA Source

and other greenhouse gases due to climate change

climate change

A change in the average conditions — such as temperature and rainfall — in a region over a long period of time.

Source: NASA Climate Kids Source

impacts like rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns. The Terrestrial

terrestrial

The geographical and biological features that are associated with the Earth's solid, rocky surface, residing on or resembling the land or terrain found on our planet.

Source: NASA Source

Wetland Function and Resilience Science Focus Area aims to understand how climate affects wetland ecosystems through experiments, observations, and modeling. Our goals are to see how soil properties, plant and microbial communities, and changing conditions impact wetland functions and greenhouse gas emissions, and to find common patterns in these emissions across different wetland types to improve Earth System models.

earth system model (ESM)

A model that simulates how chemistry, biology, and physical forces work together. These models are similar to, but much more comprehensive than, global climate models.

Source: U.S. Department of Energy Source

The project is divided into three research themes: studying small-scale mechanisms like redox

redox

A chemical reaction that takes place between an oxidizing substance and a reducing substance. The oxidizing substance loses electrons in the reaction, and the reducing substance gains electrons.

Source: National Cancer Institue Source

reactions and microbial activity, large-scale ecosystem

ecosystem

A natural community of plants, animals, and other living organisms and the physical environment in which they live and interact.

Source: A student's guide to Global Climate Change Source

processes involving plant-soil-microbial interactions, and creating new ways to model wetland functions. Each theme focuses on things like microbial activity, plant-soil interactions, and how to model wetland variability and resilience in a changing climate.