Modeling the Economic Value of Blue Carbon in Delaware Estuary Wetlands: Historic Estimates and Future Projections

Edward W Carr; Yosef Shirazi; George R Parsons; Porter Hoagland; Christopher K Sommerfield

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.10.018

Modeling the Economic Value of Blue Carbon in Delaware Estuary Wetlands: Historic Estimates and Future Projections

J Environ Manage. 2018 Jan 15:206:40-50. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.10.018. Epub 2017 Dec 7.

Authors

Edward W Carr¹, Yosef Shirazi², George R Parsons², Porter Hoagland³, Christopher K Sommerfield⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Marine Science and Policy, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA. Electronic address: ecarr@udel.edu.
² School of Marine Science and Policy, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA.
³ Marine Policy Center, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 266 Woods Hole Rd., MS# 41, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA.
⁴ School of Marine Science and Policy, University of Delaware, Lewes, DE 19958, USA.

PMID: 29055848
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.10.018

Abstract

Coastal wetlands sequester large amounts of carbon in their soils, effectively removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and acting as a carbon sink. In this paper, we estimate the economic value of carbon sequestered by wetlands in the Delaware Estuary. We estimate the value of the current stock of wetlands, the value of the historic loss of wetlands, and under a range of different scenarios the expected future loss. We use historical topographic maps and Land Cover inventories of the Delaware Estuary to measure the acreage of tidal wetlands in nine distinct time periods from 1778 to 2011. Using these data, we estimate an annual rate of wetland loss of 1.03 km². Coupling observed land cover change with exogenous factors including sea-level rise, population pressure, and channel dredging, we estimate changes in tidal wetland area under a range of future scenarios for our expected future economic loss estimates.

Keywords: Blue carbon; Carbon sequestration; Ecosystem services; Social cost of carbon; Tidal wetlands.

MeSH terms

Carbon
Carbon Sequestration*
Delaware
Estuaries
Wetlands*

Substances

Carbon