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1. Trace gas fluxes from tidal salt marsh soils: implications for carbon–sulfur biogeochemistry

   https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-4655-2022  

   Capooci, Margaret; Vargas, Rodrigo (January 2022, Biogeosciences)

   Abstract. Tidal salt marsh soils can be a dynamic source of greenhouse gases such ascarbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O),as well as sulfur-based trace gases such as carbon disulfide (CS2) anddimethylsulfide (DMS) which play roles in global climate and carbon–sulfurbiogeochemistry. Due to the difficulty in measuring trace gases in coastalecosystems (e.g., flooding, salinity), our current understanding is based onsnapshot instantaneous measurements (e.g., performed during daytime lowtide) which complicates our ability to assess the role of these ecosystemsfor natural climate solutions. We performed continuous, automatedmeasurements of soil trace gas fluxes throughout the growing season toobtain high-temporal frequency data and to provide insights into magnitudesand temporal variability across rapidly changing conditions such as tidalcycles. We found that soil CO2 fluxes did not show a consistent dielpattern, CH4, N2O, and CS2 fluxes were highly variable withfrequent pulse emissions (> 2500 %, > 10 000 %,and > 4500 % change, respectively), and DMS fluxes onlyoccurred midday with changes > 185 000 %. When we comparedcontinuous measurements with discrete temporal measurements (during daytime,at low tide), discrete measurements of soil CO2 fluxes were comparablewith those from continuous measurements but misrepresent the temporalvariability and magnitudes of CH4, N2O, DMS, and CS2.Discrepancies between the continuous and discrete measurement data result indifferences for calculating the sustained global warming potential (SGWP),mainly by an overestimation of CH4 fluxes when using discretemeasurements. The high temporal variability of trace gas fluxes complicatesthe accurate calculation of budgets for use in blue carbon accounting andearth system models. 

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2. ABCFlux v2: Arctic–boreal CO ₂ and CH ₄ monthly flux observations and ancillary information across terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems

   https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-585  

   Virkkala, Anna-Maria; Wargowsky, Isabel; Vogt, Judith; Kuhn, McKenzie A; Madaan, Simran; O'Keefe, Richard; Windholz, Tiffany; Arndt, Kyle A; Rogers, Brendan M; Watts, Jennifer D; et al (October 2025, Copernicus Publications)

   Abstract. Measurements of surface-atmosphere carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) fluxes have been relatively sparse across the Arctic tundra and boreal biomes, causing significant uncertainties in carbon budget estimates from the region. While the availability of Arctic-boreal carbon flux data has increased substantially over the past decade, the data have remained spread across different repositories, scientific articles, and unpublished sources, making it difficult to leverage. Here we present a new dataset of monthly Arctic-boreal carbon fluxes (ABCFlux v2) across terrestrial (wetlands and uplands) and freshwater (lakes and rivers) ecosystems compiled from previous syntheses including the Arctic-boreal CO2 flux database (ABCFlux v1), the Boreal-Arctic Wetland and Lake Methane Dataset (BAWLD-CH4), and the Global River Methane Database (GRiMeDB). In addition, we consider data from general-purpose (e.g., Zenodo) and flux network repositories, literature, and site principal investigators. The dataset includes surface-atmosphere CO2 fluxes of gross primary production (GPP), ecosystem respiration (Reco), and net ecosystem exchange (NEE), alongside CH4 fluxes. For aquatic ecosystems, we split CH4 fluxes into diffusive and ebullitive flux pathways, and included potential emissions from transient storage in the water column (“storage fluxes”), alongside CO2 and CH4 concentrations dissolved in the surface water. Fluxes are measured through a variety of methods including chamber and eddy covariance techniques alongside bubble traps, ice-surveys, and concentration-based turbulence-driven modelling in aquatic ecosystems. The monthly flux data are reported together with supporting methodological and environmental metadata. The resulting ABCFlux v2 has 23,656 flux site-months, 8,182 concentration site-months, and 199 seasonal observations from 1,024 sites, and includes 55,560 reported fluxes (i.e. sum of GPP, Reco, NEE, and CH4 fluxes) from the years 1984 to 2024. The majority of monthly observations occurred after 1999. Wetlands had the highest number of site-month observations (8,641), followed by boreal forest (6,981), lotic ecosystems (6,275), lentic ecosystems (3,725) and upland tundra (3,308). Measurements of CO2 dominated the dataset across most ecosystem types (25,101) except for lentic ecosystems, where CH4 flux site-months (3,024) were more frequent than CO2 flux site-months (2,858). Overall, ABCFlux v2 includes 158 % more site-months for terrestrial CO2 flux data compared to ABCFlux v1. Integrating and updating BAWLD-CH4 flux data from growing season averages to monthly fluxes resulted in 5,671 site-months of chamber CH4 data compared to 762 site-years. This collaborative initiative, involving contributions from over 260 researchers, provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of the Arctic-boreal carbon flux network and its data, and serves as an important step in reducing uncertainties in Arctic-boreal carbon budgets and in enhancing our understanding of climate feedbacks. The data can be accessed at ORNL DAAC at https://doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/2448 (Virkkala et al., 2025b). 

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3. Using atmospheric observations to quantify annual biogenic carbon dioxide fluxes on the Alaska North Slope

   https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-5953-2022  

   Schiferl, Luke D.; Watts, Jennifer D.; Larson, Erik J.; Arndt, Kyle A.; Biraud, Sébastien C.; Euskirchen, Eugénie S.; Goodrich, Jordan P.; Henderson, John M.; Kalhori, Aram; McKain, Kathryn; et al (January 2022, Biogeosciences)

   Abstract. The continued warming of the Arctic could release vast stores of carbon into the atmosphere from high-latitude ecosystems, especially from thawingpermafrost. Increasing uptake of carbon dioxide (CO2) by vegetation during longer growing seasons may partially offset such release of carbon. However, evidence of significant net annual release of carbon from site-level observations and model simulations across tundra ecosystems has been inconclusive. To address this knowledge gap, we combined top-down observations of atmospheric CO2 concentration enhancements from aircraft and a tall tower, which integrate ecosystem exchange over large regions, with bottom-up observed CO2 fluxes from tundraenvironments and found that the Alaska North Slope is not a consistent net source nor net sink of CO2 to the atmosphere (ranging from −6 to+6 Tg C yr−1 for 2012–2017). Our analysis suggests that significant biogenic CO2 fluxes from unfrozen terrestrial soils, and likely inland waters, during the early cold season (September–December) are major factors in determining the net annual carbon balance of the North Slope, implying strong sensitivity to the rapidly warming freeze-up period. At the regional level, we find no evidence of the previously reported large late-cold-season (January–April) CO2 emissions to the atmosphere during the study period. Despite the importance of the cold-season CO2 emissions to the annual total, the interannual variability in the net CO2 flux is driven by the variability in growing season fluxes. During the growing season, the regional net CO2 flux is also highly sensitive to the distribution of tundra vegetation types throughout the North Slope. This study shows that quantification and characterization of year-round CO2 fluxes from the heterogeneous terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems in the Arctic using both site-level and atmospheric observations are important to accurately project the Earth system response to future warming. 

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4. Flux and stable isotope fractionation of CO2 in a mesic prairie headwater stream

   https://doi.org/10.2166/wcc.2023.067  

   Norwood, Brock S; Stotler, Randy L; Brookfield, Andrea; Sullivan, Pamela L; Macpherson, G L (May 2023, Journal of Water and Climate Change)

   Abstract The carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes from headwater streams are not well quantified and could be a source of significant carbon, particularly in systems underlain by carbonate lithology. Also, the sensitivity of carbonate systems to changes in temperature will make these fluxes even more significant as climate changes. This study quantifies small-scale CO2 efflux and estimates annual CO2 emission from a headwater stream at the Konza Prairie Long-Term Ecological Research Site and Biological Station (Konza), in a complex terrain of horizontal, alternating limestones and shales with small-scale karst features. CO2 effluxes ranged from 2.2 to 214 g CO2 m−2 day−1 (mean: 20.9 CO2 m−2 day−1). Downstream of point groundwater discharge sources, CO2 efflux decreased, over 2 m, to 3–40% of the point-source flux, while δ13C-CO2 increased, ranging from −9.8 ‰ to −23.2 ‰ V-PDB. The δ13C-CO2 increase was not strictly proportional to the CO2 flux but related to the origin of vadose zone CO2. The high spatial and temporal variability of CO2 efflux from this headwater stream informs those doing similar measurements and those working on upscaling stream data, that local variability should be assessed to estimate the impact of headwater stream CO2 efflux on the global carbon cycle. 

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5. FLUXNET-CH ₄ Synthesis Activity: Objectives, Observations, and Future Directions

   https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-18-0268.1  

   Knox, Sara H.; Jackson, Robert B.; Poulter, Benjamin; McNicol, Gavin; Fluet-Chouinard, Etienne; Zhang, Zhen; Hugelius, Gustaf; Bousquet, Philippe; Canadell, Josep G.; Saunois, Marielle; et al (December 2019, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society)

   This paper describes the formation of, and initial results for, a new FLUXNET coordination network for ecosystem-scale methane (CH 4 ) measurements at 60 sites globally, organized by the Global Carbon Project in partnership with other initiatives and regional flux tower networks. The objectives of the effort are presented along with an overview of the coverage of eddy covariance (EC) CH 4 flux measurements globally, initial results comparing CH 4 fluxes across the sites, and future research directions and needs. Annual estimates of net CH 4 fluxes across sites ranged from −0.2 ± 0.02 g C m –2 yr –1 for an upland forest site to 114.9 ± 13.4 g C m –2 yr –1 for an estuarine freshwater marsh, with fluxes exceeding 40 g C m –2 yr –1 at multiple sites. Average annual soil and air temperatures were found to be the strongest predictor of annual CH 4 flux across wetland sites globally. Water table position was positively correlated with annual CH 4 emissions, although only for wetland sites that were not consistently inundated throughout the year. The ratio of annual CH 4 fluxes to ecosystem respiration increased significantly with mean site temperature. Uncertainties in annual CH 4 estimates due to gap-filling and random errors were on average ±1.6 g C m –2 yr –1 at 95% confidence, with the relative error decreasing exponentially with increasing flux magnitude across sites. Through the analysis and synthesis of a growing EC CH 4 flux database, the controls on ecosystem CH 4 fluxes can be better understood, used to inform and validate Earth system models, and reconcile differences between land surface model- and atmospheric-based estimates of CH 4 emissions. 

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