Citation:

Brown, C., TChris MochonCollura, Ted DeWitt, C. Janousek, AND C. Cornu. Oregon Salt Marshes: How Blue are They? November 12, 2015. Coastal Estuarine Research Federation, Portland, OR, November 08 - 12, 2015.

Impact/Purpose:

"Blue Carbon" is the carbon captured and stored by living coastal and marine organisms in coastal ecosystems, such as marsh and seagrass habitat. There is increasing interest at the State, National, and International level to develop estimates of the carbon sequestered by these habitats and to develop market based incentives to conserve and restore these important habitats. In this presentation, we will be presenting carbon sequestration estimates for salt marsh habitat in Oregon, which can be used to explore the feasibility of developing such carbon markets in Oregon.

Description:

We quantified carbon and nitrogen accumulation rates in salt marshes at 135 plots distributed across eight estuaries in Oregon, USA. Net carbon and nitrogen accumulation rates were quantified by measuring the content of these constituents in sediment that accumulated in marsh habitat over a 2 to 3 year period using the feldspar marker horizon method. For a subset of the sites, short-term sediment accretion rates were compared to long-term rates (determined using Cs137). Short-term accretion rates were related to plot elevation, with low marsh habitats accreting at faster rates than high marsh habitats. On average, the accretion rate appears to be balancing local sea level rise rate. The high marsh habitats have higher carbon and nitrogen content and lower bulk densities than low marsh habitats. Low marsh habitats accumulate carbon and nitrogen at a higher rate than high marsh habitats. Data from this study are used to generate a regional estimate of blue carbon, or long-term burial of carbon, for salt marsh habitats in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States.

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