An official website of the United States government
Abstract Coastal salt marshes store large amounts of carbon but the magnitude and patterns of greenhouse gas (GHG; i.e., carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4)) fluxes are unclear. Information about GHG fluxes from these ecosystems comes from studies of sediments or at the ecosystem‐scale (eddy covariance) but fluxes from tidal creeks are unknown. We measured GHG concentrations in water, water quality, meteorological parameters, sediment CO2efflux, ecosystem‐scale GHG fluxes, and plant phenology; all at half‐hour intervals over 1 year. Manual creek GHG flux measurements were used to calculate gas transfer velocity (k) and parameterize a model of water‐to‐atmosphere GHG fluxes. The creek was a source of GHGs to the atmosphere where tidal patterns controlled diel variability. Dissolved oxygen and wind speed were negatively correlated with creek CH4efflux. Despite lacking a seasonal pattern, creek CO2efflux was correlated with drivers such as turbidity across phenological phases. Overall, nighttime creek CO2efflux (3.6 ± 0.63 μmol/m2/s) was at least 2 times higher than nighttime marsh sediment CO2efflux (1.5 ± 1.23 μmol/m2/s). Creek CH4efflux (17.5 ± 6.9 nmol/m2/s) was 4 times lower than ecosystem‐scale CH4fluxes (68.1 ± 52.3 nmol/m2/s) across the year. These results suggest that tidal creeks are potential hotspots for CO2emissions and could contribute to lateral transport of CH4to the coastal ocean due to supersaturation of CH4(>6,000 μmol/mol) in water. This study provides insights for modeling GHG efflux from tidal creeks and suggests that changes in tide stage overshadow water temperature in determining magnitudes of fluxes.
more »
« less
Methane fluxes in tidal marshes of the conterminous United States
Abstract Methane (CH4) is a potent greenhouse gas (GHG) with atmospheric concentrations that have nearly tripled since pre‐industrial times. Wetlands account for a large share of global CH4emissions, yet the magnitude and factors controlling CH4fluxes in tidal wetlands remain uncertain. We synthesized CH4flux data from 100 chamber and 9 eddy covariance (EC) sites across tidal marshes in the conterminous United States to assess controlling factors and improve predictions of CH4emissions. This effort included creating an open‐source database of chamber‐based GHG fluxes (https://doi.org/10.25573/serc.14227085). Annual fluxes across chamber and EC sites averaged 26 ± 53 g CH4m−2 year−1, with a median of 3.9 g CH4m−2 year−1, and only 25% of sites exceeding 18 g CH4m−2 year−1. The highest fluxes were observed at fresh‐oligohaline sites with daily maximum temperature normals (MATmax) above 25.6°C. These were followed by frequently inundated low and mid‐fresh‐oligohaline marshes with MATmax ≤25.6°C, and mesohaline sites with MATmax >19°C. Quantile regressions of paired chamber CH4flux and porewater biogeochemistry revealed that the 90th percentile of fluxes fell below 5 ± 3 nmol m−2 s−1at sulfate concentrations >4.7 ± 0.6 mM, porewater salinity >21 ± 2 psu, or surface water salinity >15 ± 3 psu. Across sites, salinity was the dominant predictor of annual CH4fluxes, while within sites, temperature, gross primary productivity (GPP), and tidal height controlled variability at diel and seasonal scales. At the diel scale, GPP preceded temperature in importance for predicting CH4flux changes, while the opposite was observed at the seasonal scale. Water levels influenced the timing and pathway of diel CH4fluxes, with pulsed releases of stored CH4at low to rising tide. This study provides data and methods to improve tidal marsh CH4emission estimates, support blue carbon assessments, and refine national and global GHG inventories.
more »
« less
- PAR ID:
- 10573920
- Author(s) / Creator(s):
- ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; more »
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley-Blackwell
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Global Change Biology
- Volume:
- 30
- Issue:
- 9
- ISSN:
- 1354-1013
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
Abstract Tidal wetlands provide valuable ecosystem services, including storing large amounts of carbon. However, the net exchanges of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) in tidal wetlands are highly uncertain. While several biogeochemical models can operate in tidal wetlands, they have yet to be parameterized and validated against high‐frequency, ecosystem‐scale CO2and CH4flux measurements across diverse sites. We paired the Cohort Marsh Equilibrium Model (CMEM) with a version of the PEPRMT model called PEPRMT‐Tidal, which considers the effects of water table height, sulfate, and nitrate availability on CO2and CH4emissions. Using a model‐data fusion approach, we parameterized the model with three sites and validated it with two independent sites, with representation from the three marine coasts of North America. Gross primary productivity (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (Reco) modules explained, on average, 73% of the variation in CO2exchange with low model error (normalized root mean square error (nRMSE) <1). The CH4module also explained the majority of variance in CH4emissions in validation sites (R2 = 0.54; nRMSE = 1.15). The PEPRMT‐Tidal‐CMEM model coupling is a key advance toward constraining estimates of greenhouse gas emissions across diverse North American tidal wetlands. Further analyses of model error and case studies during changing salinity conditions guide future modeling efforts regarding four main processes: (a) the influence of salinity and nitrate on GPP, (b) the influence of laterally transported dissolved inorganic C on Reco, (c) heterogeneous sulfate availability and methylotrophic methanogenesis impacts on surface CH4emissions, and (d) CH4responses to non‐periodic changes in salinity.more » « less
-
Abstract Emissions of methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) from soils to the atmosphere can offset the benefits of carbon sequestration for climate change mitigation. While past study has suggested that both CH4and N2O emissions from tidal freshwater forested wetlands (TFFW) are generally low, the impacts of coastal droughts and drought‐induced saltwater intrusion on CH4and N2O emissions remain unclear. In this study, a process‐driven biogeochemistry model, Tidal Freshwater Wetland DeNitrification‐DeComposition (TFW‐DNDC), was applied to examine the responses of CH4and N2O emissions to episodic drought‐induced saltwater intrusion in TFFW along the Waccamaw River and Savannah River, USA. These sites encompass landscape gradients of both surface and porewater salinity as influenced by Atlantic Ocean tides superimposed on periodic droughts. Surprisingly, CH4and N2O emission responsiveness to coastal droughts and drought‐induced saltwater intrusion varied greatly between river systems and among local geomorphologic settings. This reflected the complexity of wetland CH4and N2O emissions and suggests that simple linkages to salinity may not always be relevant, as non‐linear relationships dominated our simulations. Along the Savannah River, N2O emissions in the moderate‐oligohaline tidal forest site tended to increase dramatically under the drought condition, while CH4emission decreased. For the Waccamaw River, emissions of both CH4and N2O in the moderate‐oligohaline tidal forest site tended to decrease under the drought condition, but the capacity of the moderate‐oligohaline tidal forest to serve as a carbon sink was substantially reduced due to significant declines in net primary productivity and soil organic carbon sequestration rates as salinity killed the dominant freshwater vegetation. These changes in fluxes of CH4and N2O reflect crucial synergistic effects of soil salinity and water level on C and N dynamics in TFFW due to drought‐induced seawater intrusion.more » « less
-
Abstract Tidal salt marshes produce and emit CH4. Therefore, it is critical to understand the biogeochemical controls that regulate CH4spatial and temporal dynamics in wetlands. The prevailing paradigm assumes that acetoclastic methanogenesis is the dominant pathway for CH4production, and higher salinity concentrations inhibit CH4production in salt marshes. Recent evidence shows that CH4is produced within salt marshes via methylotrophic methanogenesis, a process not inhibited by sulfate reduction. To further explore this conundrum, we performed measurements of soil–atmosphere CH4and CO2fluxes coupled with depth profiles of soil CH4and CO2pore water gas concentrations, stable and radioisotopes, pore water chemistry, and microbial community composition to assess CH4production and fate within a temperate tidal salt marsh. We found unexpectedly high CH4concentrations up to 145,000 μmol mol−1positively correlated with S2−(salinity range: 6.6–14.5 ppt). Despite large CH4production within the soil, soil–atmosphere CH4fluxes were low but with higher emissions and extreme variability during plant senescence (84.3 ± 684.4 nmol m−2 s−1). CH4and CO2within the soil pore water were produced from young carbon, with most Δ14C‐CH4and Δ14C‐CO2values at or above modern. We found evidence that CH4within soils was produced by methylotrophic and hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis. Several pathways exist after CH4is produced, including diffusion into the atmosphere, CH4oxidation, and lateral export to adjacent tidal creeks; the latter being the most likely dominant flux. Our findings demonstrate that CH4production and fluxes are biogeochemically heterogeneous, with multiple processes and pathways that can co‐occur and vary in importance over the year. This study highlights the potential for high CH4production, the need to understand the underlying biogeochemical controls, and the challenges of evaluating CH4budgets and blue carbon in salt marshes.more » « less
-
Abstract Small freshwater reservoirs are ubiquitous and likely play an important role in global greenhouse gas (GHG) budgets relative to their limited water surface area. However, constraining annual GHG fluxes in small freshwater reservoirs is challenging given their footprint area and spatially and temporally variable emissions. To quantify the GHG budget of a small (0.1 km2) reservoir, we deployed an Eddy covariance (EC) system in a small reservoir located in southwestern Virginia, USA over 2 years to measure carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) fluxes near‐continuously. Fluxes were coupled with in situ sensors measuring multiple environmental parameters. Over both years, we found the reservoir to be a large source of CO2(633–731 g CO2‐C m−2 yr−1) and CH4(1.02–1.29 g CH4‐C m−2 yr−1) to the atmosphere, with substantial sub‐daily, daily, weekly, and seasonal timescales of variability. For example, fluxes were substantially greater during the summer thermally stratified season as compared to the winter. In addition, we observed significantly greater GHG fluxes during winter intermittent ice‐on conditions as compared to continuous ice‐on conditions, suggesting GHG emissions from lakes and reservoirs may increase with predicted decreases in winter ice‐cover. Finally, we identified several key environmental variables that may be driving reservoir GHG fluxes at multiple timescales, including, surface water temperature and thermocline depth followed by fluorescent dissolved organic matter. Overall, our novel year‐round EC data from a small reservoir indicate that these freshwater ecosystems likely contribute a substantial amount of CO2and CH4to global GHG budgets, relative to their surface area.more » « less
