US Geological Survey
Date of this Version
4-2004
Abstract
USGS’s Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center and USDA’s Agricultural Research Service collaborated to study the potential of prairie pothole region wetlands to sequester carbon emitted into the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels. Results suggest that wetlands traditionally functioned as sinks for atmospheric carbon, but cultivation, the current principal land use, has shifted their function to be sources of atmospheric carbon. Data suggest that equal or greater amounts of atmospheric carbon can be stored in wetlands through restoration programs when compared with cropland, even though the acreage of wetlands is much smaller. These restored wetlands will also provide improved habitat for wildlife in the prairie pothole region.
Comments
Published by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES DIVISION.