ORE-CZ: Methane emission from wetlands surrounding Lake Pontchartrain

Wetlands emit methane, a potent greenhouse gas. The characteristics of this emission depend on the individual characteristics of the wetland. In this research, the focus is on the wetlands of Lake Pontchartrain, which is one of the largest wetlands along the Gulf Coast of North America.

These wetlands are under considerable stress due to erosion, construction of levees and canals, saltwater intrusion from the Gulf of Mexico, and urbanization. Against this backdrop, the specific research plan is to assess methane emissions from the soil at different locations along Lake Pontchartrain using infrared spectroscopy and compare the data to those reported in the literature for other wetlands.

The research will also study the relation of the soil characteristics and the local environment with the observed emission pattern of the gas. The outcome of this work can show how the large wetlands around Lake Pontchartrain contribute to global methane emissions and the factors that drive the release of the gas from the investigated wetlands. Furthermore, the findings will provide information that can enable better management of wetlands and support Louisiana’s effort toward net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, which includes a plan to use restored wetlands as a sink for long-term carbon storage.

This project provides research opportunities in STEM for undergraduate students enrolled at a Historically Black College and University, and it is supported in part by the HBCU-Undergraduate Program at the National Science Foundation.

Wetlands contribute about 30% of global methane emissions and are thus a significant contributor to the accumulation of this greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. Despite many research reports, discrepancies between theoretical and measured methane estimation and patterns from individual wetlands are observed. Inconsistencies arise because methane emission from a particular wetland is dependent on water level, soil characteristics, vegetation type, and topography.

This research focuses on assessing methane gas from wetlands around Lake Pontchartrain, one of the largest along the Gulf Coast of North America, which has seen a steady loss of wetland area and a gradual conversion of freshwater to saltwater vegetation types. A unique stressor to the wetlands is the urban sprawl of New Orleans and its suburbs, whose effluents impacts the wetlands.

The plan is to use portable, user-friendly infrared-based devices to collect soil methane emissions under different conditions from various wetland locations surrounding Lake Pontchartrain and integrate the findings into the larger framework of carbon cycling from wetlands. To this end, the research will modify existing methane collection protocols, test soil characteristics, survey heavy metal contamination and assess the biological activity of the wetland soil.

The objective is to understand the relation between stressors and the emission pattern of the gas from the wetlands. The result is expected to lead to better management of wetlands and support Louisiana’s plan to optimize the carbon sequestration potential through wetland restoration efforts.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.