Climate change mitigation potential of Louisiana's coastal area: Current estimates and future projections

Coastal habitats can play an important role in climate change mitigation. As Louisiana implements its climate action plan and the restoration and risk-reduction projects outlined in its 2017 Louisiana Coastal Master Plan, it is critical to consider potential greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes in coastal habitats. This study estimated the potential climate mitigation role of existing, converted, and restored coastal habitats for years 2005, 2020, 2025, 2030, and 2050, which align with the Governor of Louisiana's GHG reduction targets. An analytical framework was developed that considered (1) available scientific data on net ecosystem carbon balance fluxes per habitat and (2) habitat areas projected from modeling efforts used for the 2017 Louisiana Coastal Master Plan to estimate the net GHG flux of coastal area. The coastal area was estimated as net GHG sinks of -38.4 ± 10.6 and -43.2 ± 12.0 Tg CO₂ equivalents (CO₂ e) in 2005 and 2020, respectively. The coastal area was projected to remain a net GHG sink in 2025 and 2030, both with and without the implementation of Coastal Master Plan projects (means ranged from -25.3 to -34.2 Tg CO₂ e). By 2050, with model-projected wetland loss and conversion of coastal habitats to open water due to coastal erosion and relative sea level rise, Louisiana's coastal area was projected to become a net source of GHG emissions both with and without the Coastal Master Plan projects. However, in the year 2050, the Louisiana Coastal Master Plan project implementation was projected to avoid the release of +8.8 ± 1.3 Tg CO₂ e compared with an alternative with no action. Reduction in current and future stressors to coastal habitats, including impacts from sea level rise, as well as the implementation of restoration projects could help to ensure coastal areas remain a natural climate solution.

Recovery trajectories after in situ burning of an oiled wetland in coastal Louisiana, USA

The high degree of physical disturbance associated with conventional response options to oil spills in wetlands is driving the investigation of alternative cleanup methodologies. In March 1995, a spill of gas condensate in a brackish marsh at Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge in southwestern Louisiana was remediated through the use of in situ burning. An assessment of vegetation recovery was initiated in three treatment marshes: (1) oil-impacted and burned, (2) oil impacted and unburned, and (3) a nonoiled unburned reference. We compared percent cover, stem density, and biomass in the treatment marshes to define ecological recovery of the marsh vegetation and soil hydrocarbon content to determine the efficacy of in situ burning as a cleanup technique. Burning led to a rapid decrease in soil hydrocarbon concentrations in the impacted-and-burned marsh to background levels by the end of the first growing season. Although a management fire accidentally burned the oil-impacted-and-unburned and reference marshes in December 1995, stem density, live biomass, and total percent cover values in the oil-impacted-and-burned marsh were equivalent to those in the other treatment marshes after three years. In addition, plant community composition within the oil-impacted-and-burned marsh was similar to the codominant mix of the grasses Distichlis spicata (salt grass) and Spartina patens (wire grass) characteristic of the surrounding marsh after the same time period. Rapid recovery of the oil-impacted-and-unburned marsh was likely due to lower initial hydrocarbon exposure. Water levels inundating the soil surface of this grass-dominated marsh and the timing of the in situ burn early in the growing season were important factors contributing to the rapid recovery of this wetland. The results of this in situ burn evaluation support the conclusion that burning, under the proper conditions, can be relied upon as an effective cleanup response to hydrocarbon spills in herbaceous wetlands.

THE APPLICATION OF IN-SITU BURNING TO A LOUISIANA COASTAL MARSH FOLLOWING A HYDROCARBON PRODUCT SPILL: PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT OF SITE RECOVERY

The high degree of physical disturbance associated with conventional responses to oil spills in wetlands is driving the search for alternative cleanup methodologies. In March 1995, in southwestern Louisiana, a spill of gas condensate product into a brackish marsh at Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge was removed by in-situ burning. A monitoring program was established to examine the recovery of the marsh site. Three treatments were examined: (1) condensate-impacted and burned, (2) condensate-impacted and unburned, and (3) a reference that was neither exposed to the condensate nor burned. In March, July, and October 1995, vegetation plots were analyzed for biomass and stem density. Permanent quadrats were surveyed in July and October for total and species-specific percent cover. Although vegetation recovery was apparent 7 months after the burn, the burn treatment resulted in significantly lower biomass and stem density compared with both unburned treatments. In addition, burning led to conditions that favored initial recolonization by the sedge Scirpus robustus in a site previously dominated by the grasses Distichilis spicata and Spartina patens. However, biomass and stem density data suggest that D. spicata is regaining dominance. On the basis of these initial results, observations made in 1996 at the study site, and previous research, it is expected that in-situ burning will be successful at this site.