New research: Meadow restoration efforts yield long-term climate change mitigation benefits
Restoration efforts in montane meadows designed to increase late-season water flows, improve water quality, diminish flood events and provide valuable habitat have been ongoing for decades in the Sierra Nevada. It has been known that, generally, healthy meadows also soak up and hold carbon in the soil, becoming natural “sinks” for carbon, and decreasing harmful atmospheric carbon dioxide. However, how much carbon restored meadows can sequester and for how long they can consistently do so has been unclear, until now.