Premium
Methane efflux and oxidation, and use of methane‐derived carbon by larval Chironomini, in arctic lake sediments
Author(s) -
Hershey Anne E.,
Northington Robert M.,
HartSmith John,
Bostick Matthew,
Whalen Stephen C.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
limnology and oceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 197
eISSN - 1939-5590
pISSN - 0024-3590
DOI - 10.1002/lno.10023
Subject(s) - hypolimnion , anaerobic oxidation of methane , sediment , methane , arctic , environmental science , eutrophication , environmental chemistry , paleolimnology , total organic carbon , hydrology (agriculture) , oceanography , ecology , chemistry , geology , nutrient , biology , geomorphology , geotechnical engineering
We measured sediment methane (CH 4 ) efflux and CH 4 oxidation in intact sediment cores from 17 arctic Alaskan lakes which varied in lake area and depth. We evaluated the relationships between CH 4 oxidation and lake area, depth, and hypolimnetic dissolved oxygen (DO). We also evaluated the relationship between δ 13 C of larval Chironomini and CH 4 oxidation and estimated use of methane‐derived carbon (MDC) by larval Chironomini. CH 4 oxidation declined exponentially as hypolimnetic DO increased, and Chironomini δ 13 C declined exponentially as CH 4 oxidation increased. Mixing model estimates indicated that Chironomini incorporated 0% to 40% MDC between study lakes, dependent on CH 4 oxidation. These estimates overlap broadly with those reported for eutrophic lakes, illustrating that use of MDC is not strictly related to lake productivity, but instead is determined by factors controlling hypolimnetic DO and facilitating CH 4 oxidation at the sediment–water interface. In the lakes studied here, hypolimnetic DO was determined by basin characteristics. Our results, viewed in the context of other studies elsewhere, illustrate that CH 4 oxidation is a potentially important process supporting consumer production across the full spectrum of lake productivity.