Great Dismal Swamp Project

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...

Categories: Project; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: Atlantic White Cedar, Carbon Flux, Carbon Stock, Disturbance, Ecosystem Services, All tags... Freshwater forested wetland, Great Dismal Swamp, Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, Hydrology, LUCAS Model, Lateral West Fire, Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain, Net Ecosystem Carbon Balance, Peatlands, Soil Carbon, Staging, State-and-transition simulation models, USGS, Wetlands, Fewer tags

A carbon balance model for the great dismal swamp ecosystem

Carbon storage potential has become an important consideration for land management and planning in the United States. The ability to assess ecosystem carbon balance can help land managers understand the benefits and tradeoffs between different management strategies. This paper demonstrates an application of the Land Use and Carbon Scenario Simulator (LUCAS) model developed for local-scale land management at the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. We estimate the net ecosystem carbon balance by considering past ecosystem disturbances resulting from storm damage, fire, and land management actions including hydrologic inundation, vegetation clearing, and replanting.

Categories: Publication; Types: Journal Citation; Tags: Carbon sequestration, Great Dismal Swamp, LUCAS model, Lateral west fire, Net ecosystem carbon balance, All tags... Peatland restoration, Fewer tags

Historic Simulation of Net Ecosystem Carbon Balance for the Great Dismal Swamp

Estimating ecosystem carbon (C) balance relative to natural disturbances and land management strengthens our understanding of the benefits and tradeoffs of carbon sequestration. We conducted a historic model simulation of net ecosystem C balance in the Great Dismal Swamp, VA. for the 30-year time period of 1985-2015. The historic simulation of annual carbon flux was calculated with the Land Use and Carbon Scenario Simulator (LUCAS) model. The LUCAS model utilizes a state-and-transition simulation model coupled with a carbon stock-flow accounting model to estimate net ecosystem C balance, and long term sequestration rates under various ecological conditions and management strategies. The historic model simulation...

Categories: Data; Types: Citation; Tags: Geography, Great Dismal Swamp, Virginia, LUCAS model, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), biota, All tags... carbon sequestration, net ecosystem carbon balance, peatland restoration, Fewer tags