Summary: Freshwater wetlands provide several essential ecosystem functions, including capturing, transforming, and preserving carbon in their soils. These habitats, however, are also the largest natural terrestrial source of the potent greenhouse gas methane. The processes that govern freshwater wetlands' soil carbon sink-source dynamics are strongly influenced by the soil environment, site history, and the composition and activity of the microbial community. This talk will summarize results from a project exploring how these factors shaped soil carbon cycling in natural and restored tidal freshwater wetlands. I will present evidence that suggests stabilization of microbial decomposition byproducts inside soil aggregates may help facilitate long-term carbon storage. I will also examine how wetland restoration, particular shifts in soil texture, influences soil microbial community structure and heterotrophic decomposition processes. And lastly, I will present preliminary results from a new project exploring linkages between methane cycling microorganisms (i.e., methanogens and methanotrophs) and methane emission from Delmarva bay wetland complexes.

Our Thursday science seminars are free and open to the public. Because they are directed towards a scientific audience, they are more technical than our evening lectures. Visit our Evening Lecture Page to learn more about our free Bay Optimism evening lecture series.