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Elevated concentrations of CO 2 may double methane emissions from mires
Author(s) -
HUTCHIN PAUL R.,
PRESS MALCOLM C.,
LEE JOHN A.,
ASHENDEN TREVOR W.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
global change biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.146
H-Index - 255
eISSN - 1365-2486
pISSN - 1354-1013
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2486.1995.tb00012.x
Subject(s) - methane , peat , mire , environmental chemistry , environmental science , wetland , carbon dioxide , flux (metallurgy) , methanogenesis , chemistry , biomass (ecology) , atmospheric sciences , ecology , geology , oceanography , organic chemistry , biology
The potential impact of an increase in methane emissions from natural wetlands on climate change models could be very large. We report a profound increase in methane emissions from cores of mire peat and vegetation as a direct result of increasing the CO 2 concentration from 355 to 550 μol mol −1 (a 60% increase). Increased CH 4 fluxes were observed throughout the four month period of study. Seasonal variation in CH 4 flux, consistent with that seen in the field, was observed under both ambient and elevated CO 2 . Under ambient CO 2 , methane fluxes rose from 0.02 μol m ‐2 s −1 in May to 0.11 μol m −2 s −3 in July before declining again in August. Under elevated CO 2 methane fluxes were at least 100% greater throughout the experiment, rising from 0.05 μol m ‐2 s −1 in May to a peak of 0.27 μol m −2 s −1 in July. The stimulation of CO 4 emissions was accompanied by a 100% increase in rates of photosynthesis from 4.6 (± 0.3) under ambient CO 2 to 9.3 (± 0.7) μol m −2 s −1 . Root and shoot biomass were unaffected.