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Reduced methane emissions from large‐scale changes in water management of China's rice paddies during 1980–2000
Author(s) -
Li Changsheng,
Qiu Jianjun,
Frolking Steve,
Xiao Xiangming,
Salas William,
Moore Berrien,
Boles Steve,
Huang Yao,
Sass Ronald
Publication year - 2002
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 - 10.1029/2002gl015370
Subject(s) - paddy field , methane , environmental science , drainage , atmospheric methane , flooding (psychology) , biogeochemical cycle , china , hydrology (agriculture) , wetland , greenhouse gas , growing season , atmospheric sciences , agronomy , geology , ecology , oceanography , environmental chemistry , geography , chemistry , biology , psychology , geotechnical engineering , archaeology , psychotherapist
Decreased methane emissions from paddy rice may have contributed to the decline in the rate of increase of global atmospheric methane (CH 4 ) concentration over the last 20 years. In China, midseason paddy drainage, which reduces growing season CH 4 fluxes, was first implemented in the early 1980s, and has gradually replaced continuous flooding in much of the paddy area. We constructed a regional prediction for China's rice paddy methane emissions using the DNDC biogeochemical model. Results of continuous flooding and midseason drainage simulations for all paddy fields in China were combined with regional scenarios for the timing of the transition from continuous flooding to predominantly mid‐season drainage to generate estimates of total methane flux for 1980–2000. CH 4 emissions from China's paddy fields were reduced over that period by ∼5 Tg CH 4 yr −1 .