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Forest ecosystem changes from annual methane source to sink depending on late summer water balance
Author(s) -
Shoemaker Julie K.,
Keenan Trevor F.,
Hollinger David Y.,
Richardson Andrew D.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2013gl058691
Subject(s) - environmental science , sink (geography) , ecosystem , primary production , carbon cycle , water cycle , carbon sink , biogeochemistry , evergreen , forest ecology , atmospheric sciences , productivity , precipitation , methane , hydrology (agriculture) , ecology , geography , geology , meteorology , economics , cartography , geotechnical engineering , biology , macroeconomics
Forests dominate the global carbon cycle, but their role in methane (CH 4 ) biogeochemistry remains uncertain. We analyzed whole‐ecosystem CH 4 fluxes from 2 years, obtained over a lowland evergreen forest in Maine, USA. Gross primary productivity provided the strongest correlation with the CH 4 flux in both years, with an additional significant effect of soil moisture in the second, drier year. This forest was a neutral to net source of CH 4 in 2011 and a small net sink in 2012. Interannual variability in the summer hydrologic cycle apparently shifts the ecosystem from being a net source to a sink for CH 4 . The small magnitude of the CH 4 fluxes and observed control or CH 4 fluxes by forest productivity and summer precipitation provide novel insight into the CH 4 cycle in this globally important forest ecosystem.