Water and carbon dynamics of coastal plain wetlandscapes

Predicting and adjusting the dynamics of the carbon (C) cycle at landscape scales is foundational 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

mitigation and avoidance.  Water storage (in soils and 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

and export (in streams and groundwater)

groundwater

Water that occurs below Earth's surface. When rain falls to the ground, a portion percolates (sinks) into the ground and collects in spaces in the underground rocks.

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

is the core control on landscape C dynamics, influencing both 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

production as well as pathways of C storage and losses to the air and water.  This project is focused on understanding the role of hydrological variability, which influences when and how much water is stored and released from the landscape, on C dynamics.  We are especially interested in understanding how hydrological variability impacts the storage vs. loss of C, and the relative importance of lateral (stream) vs. vertical (atmosphere) pathways of C loss. We adopt a variety of tools, including experiments in the field and laboratory, detailed measurements of landscape hydrology

hydrology

The science that deals with water, its properties, circulation, or distribution on Earth's surface, and in the atmosphere through evapotranspiration.

Source: NASA earth observatory Source

and C fluxes,

flux

The amount of some type of particle or energy crossing a unit area per unit time.

Source: NRC Library Source

and models that allows us to both synthesize

synthesis

The process of combining a number of things into a coherent whole to form a theory or system.

Source: National Library of Medicine Source

measurements and guide new ones, to understand C dynamics in wetland-rich landscapes of the US Southeastern Coastal Plain.  Our project will develop new understanding of how the terrestrial-aquatic interface (TAI; where the land and water meet) shifts in both space and time, and the role of that variation in controlling local processes of C storage and loss.  This understanding will allow us to better quantify and predict the aggregate water and C functions of landscapes comprised of mosaics of uplands, wetlands, and streams.  Our goal is to both develop a new fundamental understanding on how, when, and where C is stored, and how C exports are partitioned between atmospheric and stream pathways. We will apply that new understanding into improved representation of TAI dynamics in mosaic landscapes within Earth systems models.