Open AccessInvestigating the controls on greenhouse gas emission in the riparian zone of a small headwater catchment using an automated monitoring system
Author(s) -
Wang Jihuan,
Bogena Heye,
Süß Thomas,
Graf Alexander,
Weuthen Ansgar,
Brüggemann Nicolas
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
vadose zone journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.036
H-Index - 81
ISSN - 1539-1663
DOI - 10.1002/vzj2.20149
Subject(s) - environmental science , riparian zone , greenhouse gas , hydrology (agriculture) , soil water , groundwater , saturation (graph theory) , drainage basin , riparian forest , precipitation , climate change , soil science , ecology , geology , geography , geotechnical engineering , mathematics , cartography , combinatorics , habitat , biology , meteorology
Riparian zones as the transition zone between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems play an important role in C and N cycling and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. As such, they may help to mitigate climate change but could also accelerate it, depending on the particular processes affected by changes in the hydrologic regime. Hydrological observations indicated frequent shallow groundwater in the riparian zone, especially near the stream and during the wet winter and spring seasons with consequently frequent occurrence of soil water saturation. The redox potential was mainly governed by the soil water regime: under water saturation conditions, the redox potential of the soil decreased and returned to the oxic state after soil drainage. We found that soil temperature and soil water content were the main drivers of the variations in CO 2 fluxes, with highest CO 2 emission during summer and the lowest emissions in the winter period (162.2–5.4 mg CO 2 –C m −2 h −1 ). The annual average daily N 2 O emission rate was low (2.3 μg N 2 O‐N m −2 h −1 ), with the highest average daily N 2 O emission in March as a result of low temperature and partial soil saturation after heavy precipitation events (37.5 μg N 2 O‐N m −2 h −1 ). Our study showed that continuous measurement of redox potential, soil temperature, and soil water content can improve the understanding of GHG emissions in riparian zones.