Factors Regulating the Potential for Freshwater Mineral Soil Wetlands to Function as Natural Climate Solutions

Abstract

There are increasing global efforts and initiatives aiming to tackle climate change and mitigate its impacts via natural climate solutions (NCS). Wetlands have been considered effective NCS given their capacity to sequester and retain atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) while also providing a myriad of other ecosystem functions that can assist in mitigating the impacts of climate change. However, wetlands have a dual impact on climate, influencing the atmospheric concentrations of both CO₂ and methane (CH₄). The cooling effect associated with wetland CO₂ sequestration can be counterbalanced by the warming effect caused by CH₄ emissions from wetlands. The relative ability of wetlands to sequester CO₂ versus emit CH₄ is dependent on a suite of interacting physical, chemical, and biological factors, making it difficult to determine if/which wetlands are considered important NCS. The fact that wetlands are embedded in landscapes with surface and subsurface hydrological connections to other wetlands (i.e., wetlandscapes) that flow over and through geochemically active soils and sediments adds a new layer of complexity and poses further challenges to understanding wetland carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas fluxes at large spatial scales. Our review demonstrates how additional scientific advances are required to understand the driving mechanisms associated with wetland carbon cycling under different environmental conditions. It is vital to understand wetland functionality at both wetland and wetlandscape scales to effectively implement wetlands as NCS to maximize ecological, social, and economic benefits.

Keywords: Carbon dioxide; Carbon sequestration; Greenhouse gas fluxes; Methane; Wetland carbon cycle; Wetlandscape.