Development of organic carbon pools in wetlands created on reclaimed lignite mine soil

Organic carbon storage and cycling is vital for the functional success of created wetlands. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between created wetland age and organic carbon accumulation and carbon flux through soil respiration. Seven created wetlands ranging in age from newly created to twenty-years-old were selected from the reclaimed areas at the TXU Mining Martin Lake lignite mine in Panola County, Texas. Four transects containing three plots each were placed parallel to the moisture gradient in representative locations around each wetland to facilitate sampling from the range of moisture conditions present. Organic carbon content (OC) in the water, vegetation, litter layer, and soil was analyzed to estimate carbon storage in each pool. CO2 flux from the soil was measured with a portable infrared gas analyzer to determine mean soil respiration rate. Soil respiration and the understory vegetation, O-horizon, and water TOC were measured four times during the year to account for seasonal variation. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...