A long-term study of a marsh was meant to ask whether rising levels of CO2 could help wetlands thrive despite rising seas. The plants aren’t keeping up.
Schoenoplectus Americanus, or the chairmaker’s bulrush, is a common wetland plant in the Americas, and it has an existential problem. It has chosen to live in a place where it is always at risk of being drowned.
A long-term study of a marsh was meant to ask whether rising levels of CO2 could help wetlands thrive despite rising seas. The plants aren’t keeping up.
For Wetland Plants, Sea-Level Rise Stamps Out Benefits of Higher CO2 - BENEFICIAL EFFECTS OF RISING CO2 FOR PLANTS DISAPPEAR UNDER FLOODING, 33-YEAR FIELD EXPERIMENT REVEALS
The existence of wetlands throughout the globe has been subjected to the risk of drowning from increasing seas. However, for decades, researchers had a belief that one more aspect of climate change growing carbon dioxide (CO2) could trigger additional plant growth. This allows coastal wetlands to grow pretty quickly to outpace sea-level increase.