GREENHOUSE GAS FLUX AT HALFWAY CREEK MARSH

摘要

Climate change has become one of the most important issues facing the scientific community in recent years. Most of the news about climate change involves human contribution to greenhouse gasses, but there are also natural sources and sinks for these gasses. Wetlands play a significant role in the atmospheric exchange of greenhouse gasses because they contain micro organisms and the microbial processes affect gas flux. The rates at which these microbial processes occur are affected by moisture, temperature and soil aeration. These factors determine the rate at which gas exchange occurs in a wetland. Recently, wetlands have been destroyed and reconstructed all over the world and it is important to determine what effect this has on the gas flux. Many states have laws that allow a person to destroy a wetland area, if they pay for the construction of a new wetland, but it is not known if a natural wetland will have the same characteristics as a restored wetland in terms of carbon and nitrogen cycling and greenhouse gas flux.