MAINE’S BLUE CARBON: ESTIMATING MARINE CARBON STOCKS IN MAINE SALT MARSHES

Conservation of natural carbon sinks is a powerful tool for climate change mitigation often overlooked by policymakers and landowners. Coastal marine habitats are significantly more efficient at capturing and storing carbon than terrestrial ecosystems, yet they face severe threat of destruction. Maine has 79km² of tidal salt marsh, by far the most of any state in New England. In this study, carbon storage has been determined for four salt marshes in central and southern Maine. Salt marsh peat, where most carbon is stored as “blue carbon”, ranges in depth from 0.5m to 3.3 m. Preliminary carbon density values of salt marsh peat range from .019 g C/cm³ to .046 g C/cm³. Given this data, Maine salt marshes contain between 7.505 x 10⁵ and 1.20 x 10⁷ metric tons of carbon stored in belowground marsh sediment. Through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) established in 2010, Maine is eligible to gain proceeds for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions through conservation of natural areas. Results from this study will hopefully encourage participation in statewide offset programs involving the conservation of Maine’s vast salt marsh carbon sink.