The Great Dismal Swamp (GDS) project is an application of USGS LandCarbon, at the US Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), and is designed to produce local-scale carbon estimates (including fluxes, ecosystem balance, and long-term sequestration rate) to include in an ecosystem service assessment in support of Department of Interior (DOI) land management activities. The project will improve the understanding of the effects of past drainage, logging, farming, and management on carbon sequestration and fire risk in peatlands.
Broad Science Questions:
- How are ecosystem services (including carbon sequestration, wildlife viewing, water quality, and others) impacted by management activities? What are the trade-offs between these services?
- What is the optimal soil moisture regime needed to create favorable conditions for peat accumulation, carbon sequestration, and healthy, diverse forests at the Refuge scale
Project Objectives:
- Gain information on the net ecosystem carbon balance, and better understand how it changes over time given key controlling processes, such as hydrology and fire
- Estimate the effects of refuge hydrologic management and/or restoration on carbon sequestration, fire management, and establishing preferred vegetation communities
The GDS project is a multi-partner project including the FWS, the Nature Conservancy, the US Geological Survey (USGS), George Mason University, Southern Methodist University, and Clemson University. Hydrologic management of the swamp is led by the FWS, while carbon research and the ecosystem service assessment for decision support is led by the USGS. The carbon field research and the ecosystem services assessment began in June, 2014 and has a planned completion date of September, 2018.
