Methane emission from tidal freshwater marshes

In two tidal freshwater marshes, methane emission,production and accumulation in the pore-water have beenstudied. The two sites differ in their dominantvegetation, i.e., reed and bulrush, and in theirheights above sea level. The reed site was elevated inrelation to the bulrush site and had higher rates ofmethane emission and production. It is argued thatthis difference in methane emission between sites wasprimarily due to a different effect of reed andbulrush plants on methane dynamics rather than methaneoxidation related to tidal elevation. Methane emissionshowed strong seasonality related primarily to plantphysiology and only secondarily to temperature. Twocontrol sites at which vegetation was removedsystematically had lower emission rates indicating anoverall stimulating effect of plants on methaneemission from tidal marshes. Flooding reduced methaneemission, probably by blocking the primary sites ofmethane release in the lower part of the plantstems.