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Processes affecting greenhouse gas production in experimental boreal reservoirs
Author(s) -
Venkiteswaran Jason J.,
Schiff Sherry L.,
St. Louis Vincent L.,
Matthews Cory J. D.,
Boudreau Natalie M.,
Joyce Elizabeth M.,
Beaty Kenneth G.,
Bodaly R. Andrew
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
global biogeochemical cycles
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.512
H-Index - 187
eISSN - 1944-9224
pISSN - 0886-6236
DOI - 10.1002/gbc.20046
Subject(s) - greenhouse gas , environmental science , carbon dioxide , soil water , atmosphere (unit) , flux (metallurgy) , methane , carbon fibers , carbon cycle , primary production , peat , environmental chemistry , hydrology (agriculture) , atmospheric sciences , ecosystem , chemistry , soil science , ecology , geology , oceanography , meteorology , geotechnical engineering , biology , physics , materials science , organic chemistry , composite number , composite material
Flooding land for water reservoir creation has many environmental impacts including the production of the greenhouse gases (GHG) carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and methane (CH 4 ). To assess processes governing GHG emissions from the flooding of terrestrial carbon, three experimental reservoirs were constructed in upland boreal forest areas of differing carbon stores as part of the Flooded Upland Dynamics Experiment (FLUDEX). We calculated process‐based GHG budgets for these reservoirs over 5 years following the onset of flooding. Stable isotopic budgets of carbon were necessary to separate community respiration ( CR ), which produces CO 2 , from net primary production ( NPP ), which consumes CO 2 , and to separate CH 4 production from CH 4 consumption via oxidation. NPP removed up to 44% of the CO 2 produced from CR . CR and NPP exhibited different year‐after‐year trends. CH 4 flux to the atmosphere increased about twofold over 3 years, yet isotopic budgets showed CH 4 production in flooded soils increased nearly tenfold. CH 4 oxidation near the flooded soil‐water interface greatly decreased the CH 4 flux from the water column to the atmosphere. Ebullition was the most important conduit of CH 4 to the atmosphere after 3 years. Although CH 4 production increased with time, the total GHG flux, in CO 2 equivalents, declined. Contrary to expectations, neither CR nor total GHG fluxes were directly related to the quantity of organic carbon flooded. Instead, these reservoirs produced a strikingly similar amount of CO 2 equivalents over 5 years.