Spartina alterniflora has the highest methane emissions in a St. Lawrence estuary salt marsh
Abstract Salt marshes have the ability to store large amounts of ‘blue carbon’, potentially mitigating some of the effects of climate change. Salt marsh carbon storage may be partially offset by emissions of CH 4 , a highly potent greenhouse gas. Sea level rise and invasive vegetation may cause shif...
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crioppubl:10.1088/2752-664x/ac706a 2024-06-02T08:12:16+00:00 Spartina alterniflora has the highest methane emissions in a St. Lawrence estuary salt marsh Comer-Warner, Sophie A Ullah, Sami Ampuero Reyes, Wendy Krause, Stefan Chmura, Gail L Canadian Network for Research and Innovation in Machining Technology, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Natural Environment Research Council Horizon 2020 Framework Programme 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/2752-664x/ac706a https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2752-664X/ac706a https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2752-664X/ac706a/pdf unknown IOP Publishing http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://iopscience.iop.org/info/page/text-and-data-mining Environmental Research: Ecology volume 1, issue 1, page 011003 ISSN 2752-664X journal-article 2022 crioppubl https://doi.org/10.1088/2752-664x/ac706a 2024-05-07T14:05:05Z Abstract Salt marshes have the ability to store large amounts of ‘blue carbon’, potentially mitigating some of the effects of climate change. Salt marsh carbon storage may be partially offset by emissions of CH 4 , a highly potent greenhouse gas. Sea level rise and invasive vegetation may cause shifts between different elevation and vegetation zones in salt marsh ecosystems. Elevation zones have distinct soil properties, plant traits and rhizosphere characteristics, which affect CH 4 fluxes. We investigated differences in CH 4 emissions between four elevation zones (mudflat, Spartina alterniflora, Spartina patens and invasive Phragmites australis ) typical of salt marshes in the northern Northwest Atlantic. CH 4 emissions were significantly higher from the S. alterniflora zone (17.7 ± 9.7 mg C m −2 h −1 ) compared to the other three zones, where emissions were negligible (<0.3 mg C m −2 h −1 ). These emissions were high for salt marshes and were similar to those typically found in oligohaline marshes with lower salinities. CH 4 fluxes were significantly correlated with soil properties (salinity, water table depth, bulk density and temperature), plant traits (rhizome volume and biomass, root volume and dead biomass volume all at 0–15 cm) and CO 2 fluxes. The relationships between CH 4 emissions, and rhizome and root volume suggest that the aerenchyma tissues in these plants may be a major transport mechanism of CH 4 from anoxic soils to the atmosphere. This may have major implications for the mitigation potential carbon sink from salt marshes globally, especially as S. alterniflora is widespread. This study shows CH 4 fluxes can vary over orders of magnitude from different vegetation in the same system, therefore, specific emissions factors may need to be used in future climate models and for more accurate carbon budgeting depending on vegetation type. Article in Journal/Newspaper Northwest Atlantic IOP Publishing Environmental Research: Ecology |
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Abstract Salt marshes have the ability to store large amounts of ‘blue carbon’, potentially mitigating some of the effects of climate change. Salt marsh carbon storage may be partially offset by emissions of CH 4 , a highly potent greenhouse gas. Sea level rise and invasive vegetation may cause shifts between different elevation and vegetation zones in salt marsh ecosystems. Elevation zones have distinct soil properties, plant traits and rhizosphere characteristics, which affect CH 4 fluxes. We investigated differences in CH 4 emissions between four elevation zones (mudflat, Spartina alterniflora, Spartina patens and invasive Phragmites australis ) typical of salt marshes in the northern Northwest Atlantic. CH 4 emissions were significantly higher from the S. alterniflora zone (17.7 ± 9.7 mg C m −2 h −1 ) compared to the other three zones, where emissions were negligible (<0.3 mg C m −2 h −1 ). These emissions were high for salt marshes and were similar to those typically found in oligohaline marshes with lower salinities. CH 4 fluxes were significantly correlated with soil properties (salinity, water table depth, bulk density and temperature), plant traits (rhizome volume and biomass, root volume and dead biomass volume all at 0–15 cm) and CO 2 fluxes. The relationships between CH 4 emissions, and rhizome and root volume suggest that the aerenchyma tissues in these plants may be a major transport mechanism of CH 4 from anoxic soils to the atmosphere. This may have major implications for the mitigation potential carbon sink from salt marshes globally, especially as S. alterniflora is widespread. This study shows CH 4 fluxes can vary over orders of magnitude from different vegetation in the same system, therefore, specific emissions factors may need to be used in future climate models and for more accurate carbon budgeting depending on vegetation type. |
author2 |
Canadian Network for Research and Innovation in Machining Technology, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Natural Environment Research Council Horizon 2020 Framework Programme |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Comer-Warner, Sophie A Ullah, Sami Ampuero Reyes, Wendy Krause, Stefan Chmura, Gail L |
spellingShingle |
Comer-Warner, Sophie A Ullah, Sami Ampuero Reyes, Wendy Krause, Stefan Chmura, Gail L Spartina alterniflora has the highest methane emissions in a St. Lawrence estuary salt marsh |
author_facet |
Comer-Warner, Sophie A Ullah, Sami Ampuero Reyes, Wendy Krause, Stefan Chmura, Gail L |
author_sort |
Comer-Warner, Sophie A |
title |
Spartina alterniflora has the highest methane emissions in a St. Lawrence estuary salt marsh |
title_short |
Spartina alterniflora has the highest methane emissions in a St. Lawrence estuary salt marsh |
title_full |
Spartina alterniflora has the highest methane emissions in a St. Lawrence estuary salt marsh |
title_fullStr |
Spartina alterniflora has the highest methane emissions in a St. Lawrence estuary salt marsh |
title_full_unstemmed |
Spartina alterniflora has the highest methane emissions in a St. Lawrence estuary salt marsh |
title_sort |
spartina alterniflora has the highest methane emissions in a st. lawrence estuary salt marsh |
publisher |
IOP Publishing |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/2752-664x/ac706a https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2752-664X/ac706a https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2752-664X/ac706a/pdf |
genre |
Northwest Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Northwest Atlantic |
op_source |
Environmental Research: Ecology volume 1, issue 1, page 011003 ISSN 2752-664X |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://iopscience.iop.org/info/page/text-and-data-mining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1088/2752-664x/ac706a |
container_title |
Environmental Research: Ecology |
_version_ |
1800758656724107264 |