{"id":15230,"date":"2019-02-03T18:27:49","date_gmt":"2019-02-03T18:27:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=15230"},"modified":"2019-02-03T18:27:49","modified_gmt":"2019-02-03T18:27:49","slug":"protecting-the-worlds-wetlands-5-essential-reads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/protecting-the-worlds-wetlands-5-essential-reads\/","title":{"rendered":"Protecting the world’s wetlands: 5 essential reads"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jennifer Weeks<\/a>, The Conversation<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

World Wetlands Day on Feb. 2 marks the date when 18 nations signed the Convention on Wetlands<\/a> in 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea. Since that time, scientists have shown that wetlands provide many valuable services, from buffering coasts against floods to filtering water and storing carbon. These five articles from our archive highlight wetlands\u2019 diversity and the potential payoffs from conserving and restoring them.<\/p>\n

1. Soaking up floodwaters<\/h2>\n

Wetlands line coasts in many parts of the world. They act as natural sponges that soak up floodwaters and absorb force from storm surges, protecting communities further inland. <\/p>\n

Working with Lloyds of London, UC Santa Cruz researchers Siddharth Narayana and Michael Beck sought to quantify the value of these functions. Using insurance industry storm surge models, they calculated that during Hurricane Sandy in 2012, wetlands along the U.S. Atlantic coast prevented more than US$625 million in direct property damage<\/a> by reducing storm surge. They also estimated that marshes in Barnegat Bay, New Jersey reduced annual losses from flooding during smaller storms by an average of 16 percent, and up to 70 percent in some locations.<\/p>\n

Narayan and Beck see restoring wetlands as an effective way to make coastal communities more resilient against storms and flooding:<\/p>\n

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\u201cAcross the United States, the Caribbean and Southeast Asia, coastal communities face a crucial question: Can they rebuild in ways that make them better prepared for the next storm, while also conserving the natural resources that make these locations so valuable? Our work shows that the answer is yes.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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\n Coastal wetlands can extend well inland, transitioning from saltwater to brackish and freshwater.<\/span>
\n EPA<\/a><\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

2. Carbon-rich mud<\/h2>\n

Wetlands store large quantities of carbon in plant tissue and soils. But as climate expert Williams Moomaw and wetland scientists Gillian Davies and Max Finlayson point out, no global climate change agreement calls for protecting wetlands as a way to slow climate change<\/a>. And around the globe, wetlands are constantly being drained, diked and paved over. <\/p>\n

In contrast, forest protection gets a special section in the Paris climate agreement<\/a>, which offers developing countries incentives to protect and expand tropical forests as carbon sinks. Moomaw, Davies and Finlayson believe wetlands deserve equal attention:<\/p>\n

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\u201cIn our view, instead of draining swamps and weakening protections, governments at all levels should take action immediately to conserve and restore wetlands as a climate strategy. Protecting the climate and avoiding climate-associated damage from storms, flooding and drought is a much higher use for wetlands than altering them for short-term economic gains.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

3. \u2018Blue carbon\u2019 banks<\/h2>\n

Mangrove forests, which grow in salt water in tropical regions, are especially effective at locking up \u201cblue carbon\u201d \u2013 so called to distinguish it from \u201cgreen\u201d carbon storage on land. Louisiana State University scientists Robert Twilley and Andre Rovai estimate that \u201cthe wood and soil of mangrove forests along the world\u2019s coastlines hold 3 billion metric tons of carbon<\/a> \u2013 more than tropical forests.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n Mangrove forest in wetlands of Lebak, Sultan Kudarat, Philippines.<\/span>
\n Bonvallite\/Wikimedia<\/a>, CC BY-SA<\/a><\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Coastal development is an enormous threat to mangroves, whether for vacation homes in Florida or aquaculture farms in Asia. Twilley and Rovai wanted to pinpoint what type of mangroves were the most effective at storing carbon. By comparing conditions in different settings where mangroves flourish, they determined that river deltas and estuaries offer the best conditions for mangrove growth and carbon uptake:<\/p>\n

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\u201cOverall, mangroves in deltaic coasts such as the Mississippi River delta, the Amazon in Brazil and the Sundarbans in India and Bangladesh can sequester more carbon yearly than any other aquatic or terrestrial ecosystem on the globe. These are the world\u2019s blue carbon hot spots.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

4. Mangroves versus marshes<\/h2>\n

Mangroves are actually benefiting from climate change in some regions, such as Florida and the Gulf of Mexico. Villanova University biologist Samantha Chapman has found that mangroves are becoming more abundant<\/a> in these areas, moving into zones formerly dominated by salt marshes, which typically are found in cooler zones. <\/p>\n

Mangroves protect coasts more effectively against large waves, so this change isn\u2019t necessarily harmful. However, as Chapman says, <\/p>\n

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\u201cit is important to note that marsh plants provide important habitats for numerous species of birds and fish. We don\u2019t yet know how these animals will fare as mangroves replace marshes, nor do we yet understand other downsides of plant range shifts due to climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Moreover, she notes, mangroves are not building new shoreline quickly enough to keep up with sea level rise in all locations. As her findings show, there is still much to learn about how climate change will affect different types of wetlands in various locations. <\/p>\n

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