ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a foundation for new work that is needed to realize the potential for effectively managing carbon (C) pools in forested wetlands. It characterizes the C cycle in wetland forests, and reviews the morphological and taxonomic basis for defining soil C status in forested wetlands. The chapter summarizes soil properties and processes that regulate the soil C cycle in wetland forests. It examines the effects of management and restoration on soil C sequestration in forested wetlands. The chapter focuses on forested wetlands in North America while drawing on the international literature when discussing wetland soil processes. Once organic matter is deposited on the soil surface or in the mineral soil, it becomes part of a heterotrophic food web that, together with soil properties, hydrology, and land-use activities, induces biogeochemical processes that regulate soil C fluxes and storage.
