Greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration potential in restored wetlands of the Canadian prairie pothole region

North American prairie pothole wetlands are known to be important carbon stores. As a result there is interest in using wetland restoration and conservation programs to mitigate the effects of increasing greenhouse gas concentration in the atmosphere. However, the same conditions which cause these systems to accumulate organic carbon also produce the conditions under which methanogenesis can occur. As a result prairie pothole wetlands are potential hotspots for methane emissions. We examined change in soil organic carbon density as well as emissions of methane and nitrous oxide in newly restored, long-term restored, and reference wetlands across the Canadian prairies to determine the net GHG mitigation potential associated with wetland restoration. Our results indicate that methane emissions from seasonal, semi-permanent, and permanent prairie pothole wetlands are quite high while nitrous oxide emissions from these sites are fairly low. Increases in soil organic carbon between newly restored and long-term restored wetlands supports the conclusion that restored wetlands sequester organic carbon. Assuming a sequestration duration of 33 years and a return to historical SOC densities we estimate a mean annual sequestration rate for restored wetlands of 2.7 Mg C ha⁻¹year⁻¹ or 9.9 Mg CO₂ eq. ha⁻¹ year⁻¹. Even after accounting for increased CH₄ emissions associated with restoration our research indicates that wetland restoration would sequester approximately 3.25 Mg CO₂ eq. ha⁻¹year⁻¹. This research indicates that widescale restoration of seasonal, semi-permanent, and permanent wetlands in the Canadian prairies could help mitigate GHG emissions in the near term until a more viable long-term solution to increasing atmospheric concentrations of GHGs can be found.     

Agricultural peatland restoration: effects of land‐use change on greenhouse gas (CO2 and CH4) fluxes in the Sacramento‐San Joaquin Delta

Agricultural drainage of organic soils has resulted in vast soil subsidence and contributed to increased atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentrations. The Sacramento‐San Joaquin Delta in California was drained over a century ago for agriculture and human settlement and has since experienced subsidence rates that are among the highest in the world. It is recognized that drained agriculture in the Delta is unsustainable in the long‐term, and to help reverse subsidence and capture carbon (C) there is an interest in restoring drained agricultural land‐use types to flooded conditions. However, flooding may increase methane (CH₄) emissions. We conducted a full year of simultaneous eddy covariance measurements at two conventional drained agricultural peatlands (a pasture and a corn field) and three flooded land‐use types (a rice paddy and two restored wetlands) to assess the impact of drained to flooded land‐use change on CO₂ and CH₄ fluxes in the Delta. We found that the drained sites were net C and greenhouse gas (GHG) sources, releasing up to 341 g C m^?2 yr^?1 as CO₂ and 11.4 g C m^?2 yr^?1 as CH₄. Conversely, the restored wetlands were net sinks of atmospheric CO₂, sequestering up to 397 g C m^?2 yr^?1. However, they were large sources of CH₄, with emissions ranging from 39 to 53 g C m^?2 yr^?1. In terms of the full GHG budget, the restored wetlands could be either GHG sources or sinks. Although the rice paddy was a small atmospheric CO₂ sink, when considering harvest and CH₄ emissions, it acted as both a C and GHG source. Annual photosynthesis was similar between sites, but flooding at the restored sites inhibited ecosystem respiration, making them net CO₂ sinks. This study suggests that converting drained agricultural peat soils to flooded land‐use types can help reduce or reverse soil subsidence and reduce GHG emissions.     

Greenhouse gas fluxes of grazed and hayed wetland catchments in the U.S. Prairie Pothole Ecoregion

Wetland catchments are major ecosystems in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) and play an important role in greenhouse gases (GHG) flux. However, there is limited information regarding effects of land-use on GHG fluxes from these wetland systems. We examined the effects of grazing and haying, two common land-use practices in the region, on GHG fluxes from wetland catchments during 2007 and 2008. Fluxes of methane (CH₄), nitrous oxide (N₂O), and carbon dioxide (CO₂), along with soil water content and temperature, were measured along a topographic gradient every other week during the growing season near Ipswich, SD, USA. Closed, opaque chambers were used to measure fluxes of soil and plant respiration from native sod catchments that were grazed or left idle, and from recently restored catchments which were seeded with native plant species; half of these catchments were hayed once during the growing season. Catchments were adjacent to each other and had similar soils, soil nitrogen and organic carbon content, precipitation, and vegetation. When compared with idle catchments, grazing as a land-use had little effect on GHG fluxes. Likewise, haying had little effect on fluxes of CH₄ and N₂O compared with non-hayed catchments. Haying, however, did have a significant effect on combined soil and vegetative CO₂ flux in restored wetland catchments owing to the immediate and comprehensive effect haying has on plant productivity. This study also examined soil conditions that affect GHG fluxes and provides cumulative annual estimates of GHG fluxes from wetland catchment in the PPR.     

Climatic role of terrestrial ecosystem under elevated CO2: a bottom‐up greenhouse gases budget

The net balance of greenhouse gas (GHG) exchanges between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere under elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) remains poorly understood. Here, we synthesise 1655 measurements from 169 published studies to assess GHGs budget of terrestrial ecosystems under elevated CO₂. We show that elevated CO₂ significantly stimulates plant C pool (NPP) by 20%, soil CO₂ fluxes by 24%, and methane (CH₄) fluxes by 34% from rice paddies and by 12% from natural wetlands, while it slightly decreases CH₄ uptake of upland soils by 3.8%. Elevated CO₂ causes insignificant increases in soil nitrous oxide (N₂O) fluxes (4.6%), soil organic C (4.3%) and N (3.6%) pools. The elevated CO₂‐induced increase in GHG emissions may decline with CO₂ enrichment levels. An elevated CO₂‐induced rise in soil CH₄ and N₂O emissions (2.76 Pg CO₂‐equivalent year^?1) could negate soil C enrichment (2.42 Pg CO₂ year^?1) or reduce mitigation potential of terrestrial net ecosystem production by as much as 69% (NEP, 3.99 Pg CO₂ year^?1) under elevated CO₂. Our analysis highlights that the capacity of terrestrial ecosystems to act as a sink to slow climate warming under elevated CO₂ might have been largely offset by its induced increases in soil GHGs source strength.     

Effects of seasonality,transport pathway,and spatial structure on greenhouse gas fluxes in a restored wetland

Wetlands can influence global climate via greenhouse gas (GHG) exchange of carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), and nitrous oxide (N₂O). Few studies have quantified the full GHG budget of wetlands due to the high spatial and temporal variability of fluxes. We report annual open‐water diffusion and ebullition fluxes of CO₂, CH₄, and N₂O from a restored emergent marsh ecosystem. We combined these data with concurrent eddy‐covariance measurements of whole‐ecosystem CO₂ and CH₄ exchange to estimate GHG fluxes and associated radiative forcing effects for the whole wetland, and separately for open‐water and vegetated cover types. Annual open‐water CO₂, CH₄, and N₂O emissions were 915 ± 95 g C‐CO₂ m^?2 yr^?1, 2.9 ± 0.5 g C‐CH₄ m^?2 yr^?1, and 62 ± 17 mg N‐N₂O m^?2 yr^?1, respectively. Diffusion dominated open‐water GHG transport, accounting for >99% of CO₂ and N₂O emissions, and ~71% of CH₄ emissions. Seasonality was minor for CO₂ emissions, whereas CH₄ and N₂O fluxes displayed strong and asynchronous seasonal dynamics. Notably, the overall radiative forcing of open‐water fluxes (3.5 ± 0.3 kg CO₂‐eq m^?2 yr^?1) exceeded that of vegetated zones (1.4 ± 0.4 kg CO₂‐eq m^?2 yr^?1) due to high ecosystem respiration. After scaling results to the entire wetland using object‐based cover classification of remote sensing imagery, net uptake of CO₂ (?1.4 ± 0.6 kt CO₂‐eq yr^?1) did not offset CH₄ emission (3.7 ± 0.03 kt CO₂‐eq yr^?1), producing an overall positive radiative forcing effect of 2.4 ± 0.3 kt CO₂‐eq yr^?1. These results demonstrate clear effects of seasonality, spatial structure, and transport pathway on the magnitude and composition of wetland GHG emissions, and the efficacy of multiscale flux measurement to overcome challenges of wetland heterogeneity.     

Conversion of coastal wetlands,riparian wetlands,and peatlands increases greenhouse gas emissions: A global meta‐analysis

Land‐use/land‐cover change (LULCC) often results in degradation of natural wetlands and affects the dynamics of greenhouse gases (GHGs). However, the magnitude of changes in GHG emissions from wetlands undergoing various LULCC types remains unclear. We conducted a global meta‐analysis with a database of 209 sites to examine the effects of LULCC types of constructed wetlands (CWs), croplands (CLs), aquaculture ponds (APs), drained wetlands (DWs), and pastures (PASs) on the variability in CO₂, CH₄, and N₂O emissions from the natural coastal wetlands, riparian wetlands, and peatlands. Our results showed that the natural wetlands were net sinks of atmospheric CO₂ and net sources of CH₄ and N₂O, exhibiting the capacity to mitigate greenhouse effects due to negative comprehensive global warming potentials (GWPs; ?0.9 to ?8.7 t CO₂‐eq ha^?1 year^?1). Relative to the natural wetlands, all LULCC types (except CWs from coastal wetlands) decreased the net CO₂ uptake by 69.7%?456.6%, due to a higher increase in ecosystem respiration relative to slight changes in gross primary production. The CWs and APs significantly increased the CH₄ emissions compared to those of the coastal wetlands. All LULCC types associated with the riparian wetlands significantly decreased the CH₄ emissions. When the peatlands were converted to the PASs, the CH₄ emissions significantly increased. The CLs, as well as DWs from peatlands, significantly increased the N₂O emissions in the natural wetlands. As a result, all LULCC types (except PASs from riparian wetlands) led to remarkably higher GWPs by 65.4%?2,948.8%, compared to those of the natural wetlands. The variability in GHG fluxes with LULCC was mainly sensitive to changes in soil water content, water table, salinity, soil nitrogen content, soil pH, and bulk density. This study highlights the significant role of LULCC in increasing comprehensive GHG emissions from global natural wetlands, and our results are useful for improving future models and manipulative experiments.     

Contrasting ecosystem CO2 fluxes of inland and coastal wetlands: a meta‐analysis of eddy covariance data

Wetlands play an important role in regulating the atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentrations and thus affecting the climate. However, there is still lack of quantitative evaluation of such a role across different wetland types, especially at the global scale. Here, we conducted a meta‐analysis to compare ecosystem CO₂ fluxes among various types of wetlands using a global database compiled from the literature. This database consists of 143 site‐years of eddy covariance data from 22 inland wetland and 21 coastal wetland sites across the globe. Coastal wetlands had higher annual gross primary productivity (GPP), ecosystem respiration (R_e), and net ecosystem productivity (NEP) than inland wetlands. On a per unit area basis, coastal wetlands provided large CO₂ sinks, while inland wetlands provided small CO₂ sinks or were nearly CO₂ neutral. The annual CO₂ sink strength was 93.15 and 208.37 g C m^?2 for inland and coastal wetlands, respectively. Annual CO₂ fluxes were mainly regulated by mean annual temperature (MAT) and mean annual precipitation (MAP). For coastal and inland wetlands combined, MAT and MAP explained 71%, 54%, and 57% of the variations in GPP, R_e, and NEP, respectively. The CO₂ fluxes of wetlands were also related to leaf area index (LAI). The CO₂ fluxes also varied with water table depth (WTD), although the effects of WTD were not statistically significant. NEP was jointly determined by GPP and R_e for both inland and coastal wetlands. However, the NEP/R_e and NEP/GPP ratios exhibited little variability for inland wetlands and decreased for coastal wetlands with increasing latitude. The contrasting of CO₂ fluxes between inland and coastal wetlands globally can improve our understanding of the roles of wetlands in the global C cycle. Our results also have implications for informing wetland management and climate change policymaking, for example, the efforts being made by international organizations and enterprises to restore coastal wetlands for enhancing blue carbon sinks.     

藏香猪放牧对滇西北高原湿地土壤CO2通量的影响

高原湿地是生态系统中重要的碳汇。土壤CO_2通量作为高原湿地生态系统碳收支的重要组成部分,碳的释放对区域碳平衡发挥着重要的作用。藏香猪放牧是我国高海拔藏区一种特有的放牧方式,是导致高原湿地土壤退化的重要干扰因素之一,并影响着土壤CO_2通量的变化。采用土壤CO_2通量自动测量系统(LI-8100A,LI-COR,USA),分别在不同季节对滇西北布伦、哈木谷、伊拉草原上藏香猪干扰和对照(非干扰土壤)CO_2通量变化进行监测,研究发现,藏香猪干扰型放牧降低了土壤CO_2排放通量,且表现出明显的日波动变化特征。相比旱季,雨季不同放牧方式影响下的土壤CO_2通量差异性更为明显,其中布伦、哈木谷、伊拉草原较对照分别降低了70.4%、87.5%、60.7%。CO_2排放通量与土壤理化性状及植物生物量的回归分析表明,对照样地的土壤容重、孔隙度、pH、总活性碳、植物生物量与土壤CO_2通量具有显著的相关性(P0.01)。通过植物-土壤指数(plant-soil index,PSI)分析了藏香猪干扰型放牧对高原湿地的影响,总体来看,对照样地中土壤CO_2通量与PSI之间具有较好的线性关系,可以用来很好的预测未来高原湿地土壤CO_2通量的变化。该研究结果不仅有效估算了强干扰放牧影响下的高原湿地土壤碳排放量,而且为加强藏香猪放牧的科学管理,高原湿地生态系统的保护、恢复及重建提供了理论支持。     

The influence of drought and heat stress on long‐term carbon fluxes of bioenergy crops grown in the Midwestern USA

Perennial grasses are promising feedstocks for bioenergy production in the Midwestern USA. Few experiments have addressed how drought influences their carbon fluxes and storage. This study provides a direct comparison of ecosystem‐scale measurements of carbon fluxes associated with miscanthus (Miscanthus × giganteus), switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), restored native prairie and maize (Zea mays)/soybean (Glycine max) ecosystems. The main objective of this study was to assess the influence of a naturally occurring drought during 2012 on key components of the carbon cycle and plant development relative to non‐extreme years. The perennials reached full maturity 3–5 years after establishment. Miscanthus had the highest gross primary production (GPP) and lowest net ecosystem exchange (NEE) in 2012 followed by similar values for switchgrass and prairie, and the row crops had the lowest GPP and highest NEE. A post‐drought effect was observed for miscanthus. Over the duration of the experiment, perennial ecosystems were carbon sinks, as indicated by negative net ecosystem carbon balance (NECB), while maize/soybean was a net carbon source. Our observations suggest that perennial ecosystems, and in particular miscanthus, can provide a high yield and a large potential for CO₂ fixation even during drought, although drought may negatively influence carbon uptake in the following year, questioning the long‐term consequence of its maintained productivity.     

Soil properties and sediment accretion modulate methane fluxes from restored wetlands

Wetlands are the largest source of methane (CH₄) globally, yet our understanding of how process‐level controls scale to ecosystem fluxes remains limited. It is particularly uncertain how variable soil properties influence ecosystem CH₄ emissions on annual time scales. We measured ecosystem carbon dioxide (CO₂) and CH₄ fluxes by eddy covariance from two wetlands recently restored on peat and alluvium soils within the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta of California. Annual CH₄ fluxes from the alluvium wetland were significantly lower than the peat site for multiple years following restoration, but these differences were not explained by variation in dominant climate drivers or productivity across wetlands. Soil iron (Fe) concentrations were significantly higher in alluvium soils, and alluvium CH₄ fluxes were decoupled from plant processes compared with the peat site, as expected when Fe reduction inhibits CH₄ production in the rhizosphere. Soil carbon content and CO₂ uptake rates did not vary across wetlands and, thus, could also be ruled out as drivers of initial CH₄ flux differences. Differences in wetland CH₄ fluxes across soil types were transient; alluvium wetland fluxes were similar to peat wetland fluxes 3 years after restoration. Changing alluvium CH₄ emissions with time could not be explained by an empirical model based on dominant CH₄ flux biophysical drivers, suggesting that other factors, not measured by our eddy covariance towers, were responsible for these changes. Recently accreted alluvium soils were less acidic and contained more reduced Fe compared with the pre‐restoration parent soils, suggesting that CH₄ emissions increased as conditions became more favorable to methanogenesis within wetland sediments. This study suggests that alluvium soil properties, likely Fe content, are capable of inhibiting ecosystem‐scale wetland CH₄ flux, but these effects appear to be transient without continued input of alluvium to wetland sediments.     

Distribution of greenhouse gases in hyper-arid and arid areas of northern Chile and the contribution of the high altitude wetland microbiome (Salar de Huasco,Chile)

Northern Chile harbors different bioclimatic zones including hyper-arid and arid ecosystems and hotspots of microbial life, such as high altitude wetlands, which may contribute differentially to greenhouse gases (GHG) such as carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O). In this study, we explored ground level GHG distribution and the potential role of a wetland situated at 3800 m.a.s.l, and characterized by high solar radiation <?1600 W m^?2, extreme temperature ranges (?12 to 24 °C) and wind stress (<?17 m s^?1). The water source of the wetland is mainly groundwater springs, which generates streams and ponds surrounded by peatlands. These sites support a rich microbial aquatic life including diverse bacteria and archaea communities, which transiently form more complex structures, such as microbial mats. In this study, GHG were measured in the water and above ground level air at the wetland site and along an elevation gradient in different bioclimatic areas from arid to hyper-arid zones. The microbiome from the water and sediments was described by high-throughput sequencing 16S rRNA and rDNA genes. The results indicate that GHG at ground level were variable along the elevation gradient potentially associated with different bioclimatic zones, reaching high values at the high Andean steppe and variable but lower values in the Atacama Desert and at the wetland. The water areas of the wetland presented high concentrations of CH₄ and CO₂, particularly at the spring areas and in air bubbles below microbial mats. The microbial community was rich (>?40 phyla), including archaea and bacteria potentially active in the different matrices studied (water, sediments and mats). Functional microbial groups associated with GHG recycling were detected at low frequency, i.e., <?2.5% of total sequences. Our results indicate that hyper-arid and arid areas of northern Chile are sites of GHG exchange associated with various bioclimatic zones and particularly in aquatic areas of the wetland where this ecosystem could represent a net sink of N₂O and a source for CH₄ and CO₂.     

Intensified inundation shifts a freshwater wetland from a CO2 sink to a source

Climate change has altered global precipitation patterns and has led to greater variation in hydrological conditions. Wetlands are important globally for their soil carbon storage. Given that wetland carbon processes are primarily driven by hydrology, a comprehensive understanding of the effect of inundation is needed. In this study, we evaluated the effect of water level (WL) and inundation duration (ID) on carbon dioxide (CO₂) fluxes by analysing a 10‐year (2008–2017) eddy covariance dataset from a seasonally inundated freshwater marl prairie in the Everglades National Park. Both gross primary production (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (ER) rates showed declines under inundation. While GPP rates decreased almost linearly as WL and ID increased, ER rates were less responsive to WL increase beyond 30 cm and extended inundation periods. The unequal responses between GPP and ER caused a weaker net ecosystem CO₂ sink strength as inundation intensity increased. Eventually, the ecosystem tended to become a net CO₂ source on a daily basis when either WL exceeded 46 cm or inundation lasted longer than 7 months. Particularly, with an extended period of high‐WLs in 2016 (i.e., WL remained >40 cm for >9 months), the ecosystem became a CO₂ source, as opposed to being a sink or neutral for CO₂ in other years. Furthermore, the extreme inundation in 2016 was followed by a 4‐month postinundation period with lower net ecosystem CO₂ uptake compared to other years. Given that inundation plays a key role in controlling ecosystem CO₂ balance, we suggest that a future with more intensive inundation caused by climate change or water management activities can weaken the CO₂ sink strength of the Everglades freshwater marl prairies and similar wetlands globally, creating a positive feedback to climate change.     

Molecular mechanisms of water table lowering and nitrogen deposition in affecting greenhouse gas emissions from a Tibetan alpine wetland

Rapid climate change and intensified human activities have resulted in water table lowering (WTL) and enhanced nitrogen (N) deposition in Tibetan alpine wetlands. These changes may alter the magnitude and direction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, affecting the climate impact of these fragile ecosystems. We conducted a mesocosm experiment combined with a metagenomics approach (GeoChip 5.0) to elucidate the effects of WTL (?20 cm relative to control) and N deposition (30 kg N ha^?1 yr^?1) on carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O) fluxes as well as the underlying mechanisms. Our results showed that WTL reduced CH₄ emissions by 57.4% averaged over three growing seasons compared with no‐WTL plots, but had no significant effect on net CO₂ uptake or N₂O flux. N deposition increased net CO₂ uptake by 25.2% in comparison with no‐N deposition plots and turned the mesocosms from N₂O sinks to N₂O sources, but had little influence on CH₄ emissions. The interactions between WTL and N deposition were not detected in all GHG emissions. As a result, WTL and N deposition both reduced the global warming potential (GWP) of growing season GHG budgets on a 100‐year time horizon, but via different mechanisms. WTL reduced GWP from 337.3 to ?480.1 g CO₂‐eq m^?2 mostly because of decreased CH₄ emissions, while N deposition reduced GWP from 21.0 to ?163.8 g CO₂‐eq m^?2, mainly owing to increased net CO₂ uptake. GeoChip analysis revealed that decreased CH₄ production potential, rather than increased CH₄ oxidation potential, may lead to the reduction in net CH₄ emissions, and decreased nitrification potential and increased denitrification potential affected N₂O fluxes under WTL conditions. Our study highlights the importance of microbial mechanisms in regulating ecosystem‐scale GHG responses to environmental changes.     

Ecosystem–atmosphere exchange of CH4 and N2O and ecosystem respiration in wetlands in the Sanjiang Plain, Northeastern China

Natural wetlands are critically important to global change because of their role in modulating atmospheric concentrations of CO₂, CH₄, and N₂O. One 4‐year continuous observation was conducted to examine the exchanges of CH₄ and N₂O between three wetland ecosystems and the atmosphere as well as the ecosystem respiration in the Sanjiang Plain in Northeastern China. From 2002 to 2005, the mean annual budgets of CH₄ and N₂O, and ecosystem respiration were 39.40 ± 6.99 g C m^?2 yr^?1, 0.124 ± 0.05 g N m^?2 yr^?1, and 513.55 ± 8.58 g C m^?2 yr^?1 for permanently inundated wetland; 4.36 ± 1.79 g C m^?2 yr^?1, 0.11 ± 0.12 g N m^?2 yr^?1, and 880.50 ± 71.72 g C m^?2 yr^?1 for seasonally inundated wetland; and 0.21 ± 0.1 g C m^?2 yr^?1, 0.28 ± 0.11 g N m^?2 yr^?1, and 1212.83 ± 191.98 g C m^?2 yr^?1 for shrub swamp. The substantial interannual variation of gas fluxes was due to the significant climatic variability which underscores the importance of long‐term continuous observations. The apparent seasonal pattern of gas emissions associated with a significant relationship of gas fluxes to air temperature implied the potential effect of global warming on greenhouse gas emissions from natural wetlands. The budgets of CH₄ and N₂O fluxes and ecosystem respiration were highly variable among three wetland types, which suggest the uncertainties in previous studies in which all kinds of natural wetlands were treated as one or two functional types. New classification of global natural wetlands in more detailed level is highly expected.     

Drainage increases CO2 and N2O emissions from tropical peat soils

Tropical peatlands are vital ecosystems that play an important role in global carbon storage and cycles. Current estimates of greenhouse gases from these peatlands are uncertain as emissions vary with environmental conditions. This study provides the first comprehensive analysis of managed and natural tropical peatland GHG fluxes: heterotrophic (i.e. soil respiration without roots), total CO₂ respiration rates, CH₄ and N₂O fluxes. The study documents studies that measure GHG fluxes from the soil (n = 372) from various land uses, groundwater levels and environmental conditions. We found that total soil respiration was larger in managed peat ecosystems (median = 52.3 Mg CO₂ ha^?1 year^?1) than in natural forest (median = 35.9 Mg CO₂ ha^?1 year^?1). Groundwater level had a stronger effect on soil CO₂ emission than land use. Every 100 mm drop of groundwater level caused an increase of 5.1 and 3.7 Mg CO₂ ha^?1 year^?1 for plantation and cropping land use, respectively. Where groundwater is deep (≥0.5 m), heterotrophic respiration constituted 84% of the total emissions. N₂O emissions were significantly larger at deeper groundwater levels, where every drop in 100 mm of groundwater level resulted in an exponential emission increase (exp(0.7) kg N ha^?1 year^?1). Deeper groundwater levels induced high N₂O emissions, which constitute about 15% of total GHG emissions. CH₄ emissions were large where groundwater is shallow; however, they were substantially smaller than other GHG emissions. When compared to temperate and boreal peatland soils, tropical peatlands had, on average, double the CO₂ emissions. Surprisingly, the CO₂ emission rates in tropical peatlands were in the same magnitude as tropical mineral soils. This comprehensive analysis provides a great understanding of the GHG dynamics within tropical peat soils that can be used as a guide for policymakers to create suitable programmes to manage the sustainability of peatlands effectively.     

Agricultural encroachment: implications for carbon sequestration in tropical African wetlands

Tropical wetlands have been shown to exhibit high rates of net primary productivity and may therefore play an important role in global climate change mitigation through carbon assimilation and sequestration. Many permanently flooded areas of tropical East Africa are dominated by the highly productive C₄ emergent macrophyte sedge, Cyperus papyrus L. (papyrus). However, increasing population densities around wetland margins in East Africa are reducing the extent of papyrus coverage due to the planting of subsistence crops such as Colocasia esculenta (cocoyam). In this paper, we assess the impact of this land use change on the carbon cycle and in particular the impacts of land conversion on net ecosystem carbon dioxide exchange. Eddy covariance techniques were used, on a campaign basis, to measure fluxes of carbon dioxide over both papyrus and cocoyam dominated wetlands located on the Ugandan shore of Lake Victoria. Peak rates of net photosynthetic CO₂ assimilation, derived from monthly diurnal averages of net ecosystem exchange, of 28–35 μmol CO₂ m^?2 s^?1 and 15–20 μmol CO₂ m^?2 s^?1 were recorded in the papyrus and cocoyam wetlands, respectively, whereas night‐time respiratory losses ranged between 10 and 15 μmol CO₂ m^?2 s^?1 at the papyrus wetland and 5–10 μmol CO₂ m^?2 s^?1 at the cocoyam site. The integration of the flux data suggests that papyrus wetlands have the potential to act as a sink for significant amounts of carbon, in the region of 10 t C ha^?1 yr^?1. The cocoyam vegetation assimilated ~7 t C ha^?1 yr^?1 but when carbon exports from crop biomass removal were accounted for these wetlands represent a significant net loss of carbon of similar magnitude. The development of sustainable wetland management strategies are therefore required to promote the dual wetland function of crop production and the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions especially under future climate change scenarios.     

Enhanced CO2 uptake is marginally offset by altered fluxes of non-CO2 greenhouse gases in global forests and grasslands under N deposition

Despite the increasing impact of atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition on terrestrial greenhouse gas (GHG) budget, through driving both the net atmospheric CO₂ exchange and the emission or uptake of non-CO₂ GHGs (CH₄ and N₂O), few studies have assessed the climatic impact of forests and grasslands under N deposition globally based on different bottom-up approaches. Here, we quantify the effects of N deposition on biomass C increment, soil organic C (SOC), CH₄ and N₂O fluxes and, ultimately, the net ecosystem GHG balance of forests and grasslands using a global comprehensive dataset. We showed that N addition significantly increased plant C uptake (net primary production) in forests and grasslands, to a larger extent for the aboveground C (aboveground net primary production), whereas it only caused a small or insignificant enhancement of SOC pool in both upland systems. Nitrogen addition had no significant effect on soil heterotrophic respiration (R_H) in both forests and grasslands, while a significant N-induced increase in soil CO₂ fluxes (R_S, soil respiration) was observed in grasslands. Nitrogen addition significantly stimulated soil N₂O fluxes in forests (76%), to a larger extent in grasslands (87%), but showed a consistent trend to decrease soil uptake of CH₄, suggesting a declined sink capacity of forests and grasslands for atmospheric CH₄ under N enrichment. Overall, the net GHG balance estimated by the net ecosystem production-based method (forest, 1.28 Pg CO₂-eq year⁻¹ vs. grassland, 0.58 Pg CO₂-eq year⁻¹) was greater than those estimated using the SOC-based method (forest, 0.32 Pg CO₂-eq year⁻¹ vs. grassland, 0.18 Pg CO₂-eq year⁻¹) caused by N addition. Our findings revealed that the enhanced soil C sequestration by N addition in global forests and grasslands could be only marginally offset (1.5%–4.8%) by the combined effects of its stimulation of N₂O emissions together with the reduced soil uptake of CH₄.     

Carbon limitation of soil respiration under winter snowpacks: potential feedbacks between growing season and winter carbon fluxes

A reduction in the length of the snow‐covered season in response to a warming of high‐latitude and high‐elevation ecosystems may increase soil carbon availability both through increased litter fall following longer growing seasons and by allowing early winter soil frosts that lyse plant and microbial cells. To evaluate how an increase in labile carbon during winter may affect ecosystem carbon balance we investigated the relationship between carbon availability and winter CO₂ fluxes at several locations in the Colorado Rockies. Landscape‐scale surveys of winter CO₂ fluxes from sites with different soil carbon content indicated that winter CO₂ fluxes were positively related to carbon availability and experimental additions of glucose to soil confirmed that CO₂ fluxes from snow‐covered soil at temperatures between 0 and ?3°C were carbon limited. Glucose added to snow‐covered soil increased CO₂ fluxes by 52–160% relative to control sites within 24 h and remained 62–70% higher after 30 days. Concurrently a shift in the δ¹³C values of emitted CO₂ toward the glucose value indicated preferential utilization of the added carbon confirming the presence of active heterotrophic respiration in soils at temperatures below 0°C. The sensitivity of these winter fluxes to substrate availability, coupled with predicted changes in winter snow cover, suggests that feedbacks between growing season carbon uptake and winter heterotrophic activity may have unforeseen consequences for carbon and nutrient cycling in northern forests. For example, published winter CO₂ fluxes indicate that on average 50% of growing season carbon uptake currently is respired during the winter; changes in winter CO₂ flux in response to climate change have the potential to reduce substantially the net carbon sink in these ecosystems.     

Using ecosystem CO2 measurements to estimate the timing and magnitude of greenhouse gas mitigation potential of forest bioenergy

Forest bioenergy opportunities may be hindered by a long greenhouse gas (GHG) payback time. Estimating this payback time requires the quantification of forest‐atmosphere carbon exchanges, usually through process‐based simulation models. Such models are prone to large uncertainties, especially over long‐term carbon fluxes from dead organic matter pools. We propose the use of whole ecosystem field‐measured CO₂ exchanges obtained from eddy covariance flux towers to assess the GHG mitigation potential of forest biomass projects as a way to implicitly integrate all field‐level CO₂ fluxes and the inter‐annual variability in these fluxes. As an example, we perform the evaluation of a theoretical bioenergy project that uses tree stems as bioenergy feedstock and include multi‐year measurements of net ecosystem exchange (NEE) from forest harvest chronosequences in the boreal forest of Canada to estimate the time dynamics of ecosystem CO₂ exchanges following harvesting. Results from this approach are consistent with previous results using process‐based models and suggest a multi‐decadal payback time for our project. The time for atmospheric carbon debt repayment of bioenergy projects is highly dependent on ecosystem‐level CO₂ exchanges. The use of empirical NEE measurements may provide a direct evaluation of, or at least constraints on, the GHG mitigation potential of forest bioenergy projects.     

Reconciling Carbon-cycle Concepts, Terminology, and Methods

Recent projections of climatic change have focused a great deal of scientific and public attention on patterns of carbon (C) cycling as well as its controls, particularly the factors that determine whether an ecosystem is a net source or sink of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂). Net ecosystem production (NEP), a central concept in C-cycling research, has been used by scientists to represent two different concepts. We propose that NEP be restricted to just one of its two original definitions—the imbalance between gross primary production (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (ER). We further propose that a new term—net ecosystem carbon balance (NECB)—be applied to the net rate of C accumulation in (or loss from [negative sign]) ecosystems. Net ecosystem carbon balance differs from NEP when C fluxes other than C fixation and respiration occur, or when inorganic C enters or leaves in dissolved form. These fluxes include the leaching loss or lateral transfer of C from the ecosystem; the emission of volatile organic C, methane, and carbon monoxide; and the release of soot and CO₂ from fire. Carbon fluxes in addition to NEP are particularly important determinants of NECB over long time scales. However, even over short time scales, they are important in ecosystems such as streams, estuaries, wetlands, and cities. Recent technological advances have led to a diversity of approaches to the measurement of C fluxes at different temporal and spatial scales. These approaches frequently capture different components of NEP or NECB and can therefore be compared across scales only by carefully specifying the fluxes included in the measurements. By explicitly identifying the fluxes that comprise NECB and other components of the C cycle, such as net ecosystem exchange (NEE) and net biome production (NBP), we can provide a less ambiguous framework for understanding and communicating recent changes in the global C cycle.