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ETC/ULS Report | 10/2021

Carbon pools and sequestration potential of wetlands in the European Union

Authors: Dania Abdul Malak, Ana I. Marín, Marco Trombetti, Sonsoles San Román (Universidad de Málaga - UMA)

[Wetland ecosystems as defined by the Ramsar convention host a wide variety of wetland habitats across terrestrial, coastal and marine environments. When in good condition, wetland habitats provide many societal benefits and values, among others, they play a crucial role in the carbon cycle because of their capacities to limit the availability of oxygen to soil microbes and decomposition of organic matter. Policies and practices do not sufficiently consider these interconnections and interdependencies in Europe yet due to the fragmented consideration of this ecosystem in their schemes. The findings of this report argue that healthy European wetland habitats have an enormous capacity to contribute to carbon neutrality objectives in Europe. Across the wide array of European ecosystems they belong to, wetland habitats have a role in contributing to the carbon cycle. The most meaningful European wetland habitats to contribute to carbon storage include well-functioning salt marshes, healthy mires, bogs and fens as well as riparian, fluvial and swamp forests. Furthermore, when healthy, terrestrial wetlands namely mires, bogs and fens (where peatlands underly), followed by riparian, fluvial and swamp forests as well as inland marshes ensure a high carbon sequestration potential. If kept in a good condition or restored, the EU wetland related carbon stock capacity of their overall area in Europe (EU 27 and the UK) is estimated to be between 12 - 31 Gt CO2 -eq, corresponding to an overall value ranging between 3 and 8 years of EU GHG emissions1 . Whereas the Carbon sequestration potential of healthy EU Wetlands per year is calculated to range between 24 and 144 Mt CO2 eq yr-1 (24,352 and 14,3719 kt CO2 eq yr-1), being a quantity that contributes to “neutralising” between 1 and 4 % of the total GHG emissions registered in the EU27 and the UK (according to 2018 reference year for reported emission). These findings should trigger wetland conservation and restoration to become a high priority for the EU to support reaching climate neutrality by 2050. Climate reporting systems require Parties to report on anthropogenic emissions and removals of greenhouse gases which includes reporting heavily modified peatland habitats only partially and dominantly as a net carbon emitter. Using ecosystem-based approaches to managing reported peatland habitats and re-establishing their ecosystem functioning do transform many of them from climate ‘heaters’ (carbon net sources) into climate ‘coolers’ (carbon net sinks).]

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Modelling of the carbon sequestration and its prediction under climate change

Vilém Pechanec , Jan Purkyt , Antonín Benc , Chukwudi Nwaogu , Lenka Štěrbová , Pavel Cudlín

Elsevier

Ecological Informatics

Volume 47, September 2018, Pages 50-54

[Abstract

The aim of the presented study is to quantify the total carbon stock of habitats in addition the estimation of aboveground and belowground biomass, necromass, and soil organic carbon. Prediction of carbon storage under climate change is based on future land-use changes, identification of new land-use distribution, and evaluation of changes in human impacts on biomass production and carbon storage. Widely used InVEST model was applied to determine the existing carbon stocks and the amount of carbon captured over time. Changes in the carbon storage were calculated from aboveground biomass, belowground biomass, necromass, and soil organic carbon pools. The original model was modified to vector space to better identify land heterogeneity. The values of the four carbon pools for individual land-use categories were derived from literature and experimental investigation. Land Change Modeller was then used to model future land use by applying business-as-usual scenario on data derived from 1990, 2000, 2006, and 2012 Corine Land Cover data. In this contribution, land cover predictions are calculated using three CORDEX climate models and two emission scenarios (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5). Results describe current carbon stock by basic carbon pools and prediction of the total amount of carbon stored in four reservoirs in three time period. Results show that the difference in predictions between specific scenarios in each period is increasing and in all predictions, roughly the same proportional carbon ratio is maintained between the individual stocks.]