Wetlands provide a wide range of ecological and economic services to human societies. Among terrestrial ecosystems, wetland soils represent one of the largest carbon (C) sinks and play a significant role in mitigating atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. India is endowed with a rich diversity of wetland ecosystems that support unique and varied habitats. However, the carbon capture and sequestration potential of these wetlands remains largely unquantified.
This study aims to evaluate carbon capture from various sources and its subsequent sequestration in soil across four distinct wetlands in West Bengal, India: three closed floodplain lakes Akaipur, Kundipur, Bijpur, and an open wetland are Maniknagar. Seasonal sampling of water, macrophytes, and soil was conducted to determine primary productivity, dissolved carbon content, and carbon deposition in soils, which was then compared to adjacent reference upland sites.
All four wetlands were found to be highly productive, as indicated by the favourable physicochemical properties of both water and soil.
Carbon accumulation in the wetlands, measured up to a depth of 30cm depth, ranged from 45.36 to 105.42 Mg/ha-approximately 1.20 to 3.45 times greater than that in the corresponding upland reference sites.
These findings highlight that wetland ecosystems, are highly efficient in sequestering carbon in their soils. As such, they hold considerable potential to offset greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to climate change mitigation strategies.