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Meadow Restoration Sedges Boost Soil Carbon, Not Enough Yet

By Drooid · Oct 7, 2026, 7:09 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

Colorado State University researchers planted 40,000 native sedge seedlings in Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park, starting in 2016.
Three years later, about three-quarters of the seedlings remained alive.
Monitoring shows the new sedges are slowly increasing soil organic matter.
Despite this growth, the meadow continues to lose more carbon than the seedlings store.
Lead author David Cooper estimates full ecosystem repair could require 25 to 50 years.

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Story summary

Colorado State University researchers planted 40,000 native sedge seedlings in Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park, starting in 2016.
Three years later, about three-quarters of the seedlings remained alive.
Monitoring shows the new sedges are slowly increasing soil organic matter.
Despite this growth, the meadow continues to lose more carbon than the seedlings store.
Lead author David Cooper estimates full ecosystem repair could require 25 to 50 years.