Blue Carbon
Blue Carbon is the organic carbon stored in soils of salt marshes and seagrass beds as well as mangrove swamps. Blue carbon in estuaries is a major research theme in the Chmura lab. Besides a means to partially mitigate climate change, salt marsh soil organic matter is critical to the maintenance of, and increase in elevation of salt marshes.
Some present and future research foci are:
Organic Carbon and Greenhouse Gas Fluxes of Salt Marshes in Canada's National Parks
To help prepare Parks Canada's Carbon Atlas, we are presently funded to study marshes in Prince Edward Island National Park and Kejimkujik National Park (Nova Scotia) in 2022-2024 and may be extended. We produce hundreds of samples that need lab attention and we welcome applications for part-time work by McGill undergrads or those interested in an honours or research credit.
C Sources to salt marsh soils
Identification of parameters that can accurately estimate the carbon stock stored in a salt marsh
Identification of C Sources to salt marsh soils
Invasive Phragmites australis
Impact of Nutrient Enrichment
Blue Carbon is the organic carbon stored in soils of salt marshes and seagrass beds as well as mangrove swamps. Blue carbon in estuaries is a major research theme in the Chmura lab. Besides a means to partially mitigate climate change, salt marsh soil organic matter is critical to the maintenance of, and increase in elevation of salt marshes.
Some present and future research foci are:
Organic Carbon and Greenhouse Gas Fluxes of Salt Marshes in Canada's National Parks
To help prepare Parks Canada's Carbon Atlas, we are presently funded to study marshes in Prince Edward Island National Park and Kejimkujik National Park (Nova Scotia) in 2022-2024 and may be extended. We produce hundreds of samples that need lab attention and we welcome applications for part-time work by McGill undergrads or those interested in an honours or research credit.
C Sources to salt marsh soils
Identification of parameters that can accurately estimate the carbon stock stored in a salt marsh
Identification of C Sources to salt marsh soils
- What are the relative contributions of microphytobenthos to salt marshes and restoration sites in Eastern Canada?
- How much C does the microphytobenthos contribute to salt marsh C stocks in mature marshes and marshes undergoing restoration?
- Does tidal range affect the production (e.g. marshes with higher tidal ranges are exposed longer as tidal currents are more rapid)?
- Is the labile C from microphytobenthic production retained in the sediment or too rapidly oxidized and how do sediment grain size and rates of sediment deposition affect the process?
Invasive Phragmites australis
- How does invasive Phragmites affect OC stocks, OC density & OC accumulation rates in salt marshes on St. Lawrence’s Kamouraska coast?
- Does this invasion increase the resilience of salt marshes to accelerated sea level rise?
Impact of Nutrient Enrichment
- How does nutrient enrichment in Canadian marshes affect marsh soil C storage, thus marsh resilience to rising sea level?
- We are studying this in estuaries of Prince Edward Island and at experimentally fertilized marsh plots at Dipper Harbour, on the Bay of Fundy and at Kouchibouguac National Park on the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Quaternary History of Salt Marshes
on Chaleur Bay, Gulf of St. Lawrence and Prince Edward Island
There has been little research on these marshes, which are located on coastlines with complex sea level histories.
We are interested in establishing the age of these marshes and their response to sea level change to assess their resilience to future changes. We have initiated some work on sites that have protected status such as Kouchibouguac National Park, Daly Point Nature Reserve & Carron Point in New Brunswick, as well the Basin Head National Marine Sanctuary on Prince Edward Island.
There presently is no funding available for this research.
on Chaleur Bay, Gulf of St. Lawrence and Prince Edward Island
There has been little research on these marshes, which are located on coastlines with complex sea level histories.
We are interested in establishing the age of these marshes and their response to sea level change to assess their resilience to future changes. We have initiated some work on sites that have protected status such as Kouchibouguac National Park, Daly Point Nature Reserve & Carron Point in New Brunswick, as well the Basin Head National Marine Sanctuary on Prince Edward Island.
There presently is no funding available for this research.
Recently completed research
Maritime Ringlet Butterfly
The world’s population of the Maritime Ringlet Butterfly is restricted to salt marshes of Chaleur Bay, bounded by the provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick. An individual spends its entire life in a single salt marsh with larvae over wintering in salt meadow hay (Spartina patens). Adults live no longer than 2 weeks, thus it is critical that its nectar sources (sea lavender, Limonium nashii; seaside goldenrod, Solidago sempervirens; and sea milkwort, Glaux maritima) be blooming in adequate density when the adults appear. Those monitoring butterfly populations fear that the adult phase is becoming asynchronous with the blooming of its nectar sources.
The world’s population of the Maritime Ringlet Butterfly is restricted to salt marshes of Chaleur Bay, bounded by the provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick. An individual spends its entire life in a single salt marsh with larvae over wintering in salt meadow hay (Spartina patens). Adults live no longer than 2 weeks, thus it is critical that its nectar sources (sea lavender, Limonium nashii; seaside goldenrod, Solidago sempervirens; and sea milkwort, Glaux maritima) be blooming in adequate density when the adults appear. Those monitoring butterfly populations fear that the adult phase is becoming asynchronous with the blooming of its nectar sources.