Study quantifies ecological restoration effectiveness on greenhouse gas emissions

They found that forest and grassland restoration significantly increased CH₄ uptake by 90% and 30.8%, respectively, while, wetland restoration significantly increased CH₄ emissions by 544.4%. Forest and grassland restoration had no clear effect on N₂O emissions, while wetland restoration significantly reduced N₂O emissions by 68.6%.

Net ecosystem CO₂ exchange (NEE) in wetlands was exponentially and negatively correlated with restoration age, and the transition time from net CO₂ sources to net CO₂ sinks was estimated to be about four years.

The NEE of the restored forests decreased with the age of afforestation and reforestation, and the estimated switchover time from CO₂ sources to net sinks was about three to five years, and about six years for the clear-cut sites and 13 years for the post-fire sites.

Read the full post at phys.org.