Tropical Wetlands Store More Carbon Than Temperate Marshes - Study

Researchers from Ohio State say that wetlands in tropical areas are able to absorb and hold onto about 80 percent more carbon than wetlands in temperate zones. The scientists extracted soil cores from wetlands in Costa Rica and in Ohio and analyzed the contents of the sediment from the past 40 years. Based on their analysis, they estimated that the tropical wetland accumulated a little over 1 ton of carbon per acre per year, and the temperate wetland accumulated .6 tons of carbon per acre per year. The temperate Ohio wetland in the study covers almost 140 acres, meaning it sequesters 80 tons of carbon per year. The tropical wetland covers nearly 290 acres and stores 300 tons of carbon each year. Read More...

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