Grant: Alliance Grants

The conservation of wetlands to prevent the destruction and degradation of important carbon stocks, as well as the recognition of the role of ecosystems in climate change mitigation and adaptation, are priorities set by the governments of Quebec and Canada. This project aims to improve understanding the carbon sequestration capacity of key wetland types across Canada to better quantify the role of wetlands as nature-based climate solutions to fight climate change. This includes quantifying the net ecosystem carbon balance (NECB) of four types of wetlands under natural conditions (open bog, forested bog, treed swamp, and coastal marsh) to help prioritizing the protection and conservation of areas with the strongest capacity to mitigate climate change. We will also quantify the NECB of the same wetland types under disturbed conditions as knowledge about the impacts of anthropogenic disturbances on the carbon balances of these wetlands. This comparison between natural and disturbed conditions will help our partners (Ministère de l'Environnement, de la Lutte contre le changement climatique, de la Faune et des Parcs (MELCCFP), Ducks Unlimited Canada and Nature Conservancy Canada - Québec) to support decisions for carbon stocks conservation, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and optimization of carbon sequestration in soils and biomass. The NECB approach integrates land-atmosphere gas exchange (i.e., vertical fluxes), carbon accumulation in soils and biomass, and lateral carbon export (i.e., lateral fluxes) in its various forms. This will be realized through a watershed-scale continuum approach. The support of the Quebec government in this project request is significant because the proposed research will have concrete implications through conservation and land-use practices not only for Quebec but also for Canada.