Coastal wetlands provide critical ecosystem services, including flood protection, habitat for diverse species, and long-term carbon storage, often exceeding that of terrestrial forests, making them essential for climate change mitigation. Lyndsay Rankin is a coastal scientist whose work in the San Francisco Bay–Delta focuses on understanding and quantifying these benefits to inform effective management and restoration. Her research integrates long-term datasets, including regional marsh vegetation surveys, with field-based measurements of soil carbon and greenhouse gas fluxes across natural and restored wetlands. By collecting and analyzing soil cores, she evaluates how organic carbon accumulates over time, while also examining how vegetation communities, microbial processes, salinity gradients, and tidal inundation influence carbon storage and emissions. Using greenhouse gas chamber analyzers, she measures carbon dioxide and methane fluxes to better understand the dynamic balance between carbon sequestration and release. Through this work, she aims to identify the key drivers of carbon cycling in coastal wetlands, providing science-based insights to support restoration strategies and enhance the resilience and climate benefits of Bay Area ecosystems.
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