Simulated methane emissions from Arctic ponds are highly sensitive to warming
The Arctic is warming at an above-average rate, and small, shallow waterbodies such as ponds are vulnerable to this warming due to their low thermal inertia compared to larger lakes. While ponds are a relevant landscape-scale source of methane under the current climate, the response of pond methane...
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ftcopernicus:oai:publications.copernicus.org:bg108401 2023-08-15T12:39:53+02:00 Simulated methane emissions from Arctic ponds are highly sensitive to warming Rehder, Zoé Kleinen, Thomas Kutzbach, Lars Stepanenko, Victor Langer, Moritz Brovkin, Victor 2023-07-17 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2837-2023 https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/20/2837/2023/ eng eng doi:10.5194/bg-20-2837-2023 https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/20/2837/2023/ eISSN: 1726-4189 Text 2023 ftcopernicus https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2837-2023 2023-07-24T16:24:18Z The Arctic is warming at an above-average rate, and small, shallow waterbodies such as ponds are vulnerable to this warming due to their low thermal inertia compared to larger lakes. While ponds are a relevant landscape-scale source of methane under the current climate, the response of pond methane emissions to warming is uncertain. We employ a new, process-based model for methane emissions from ponds (MeEP) to investigate the methane emission response of polygonal-tundra ponds in northeastern Siberia to warming. MeEP is the first dedicated model of pond methane emissions which differentiates between the three main pond types of the polygonal-tundra, ice-wedge, polygonal-center, and merged polygonal ponds and resolves the three main pathways of methane emissions – diffusion, ebullition, and plant-mediated transport. We perform idealized warming experiments, with increases in the mean annual temperature of 2.5, 5, and 7.5 ∘ C on top of a historical simulation. The simulations reveal an approximately linear increase in emissions from ponds of 1.33 g CH 4 yr −1 ∘ C −1 m −2 in this temperature range. Under annual temperatures 5 ∘ C above present temperatures, pond methane emissions are more than 3 times higher than now. Most of this emission increase is due to the additional substrate provided by the increased net productivity of the vascular plants. Furthermore, plant-mediated transport is the dominating pathway of methane emissions in all simulations. We conclude that vascular plants as a substrate source and efficient methane pathway should be included in future pan-Arctic assessments of pond methane emissions. Text Arctic Tundra Siberia Copernicus Publications: E-Journals Arctic Biogeosciences 20 14 2837 2855 |
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Copernicus Publications: E-Journals |
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English |
description |
The Arctic is warming at an above-average rate, and small, shallow waterbodies such as ponds are vulnerable to this warming due to their low thermal inertia compared to larger lakes. While ponds are a relevant landscape-scale source of methane under the current climate, the response of pond methane emissions to warming is uncertain. We employ a new, process-based model for methane emissions from ponds (MeEP) to investigate the methane emission response of polygonal-tundra ponds in northeastern Siberia to warming. MeEP is the first dedicated model of pond methane emissions which differentiates between the three main pond types of the polygonal-tundra, ice-wedge, polygonal-center, and merged polygonal ponds and resolves the three main pathways of methane emissions – diffusion, ebullition, and plant-mediated transport. We perform idealized warming experiments, with increases in the mean annual temperature of 2.5, 5, and 7.5 ∘ C on top of a historical simulation. The simulations reveal an approximately linear increase in emissions from ponds of 1.33 g CH 4 yr −1 ∘ C −1 m −2 in this temperature range. Under annual temperatures 5 ∘ C above present temperatures, pond methane emissions are more than 3 times higher than now. Most of this emission increase is due to the additional substrate provided by the increased net productivity of the vascular plants. Furthermore, plant-mediated transport is the dominating pathway of methane emissions in all simulations. We conclude that vascular plants as a substrate source and efficient methane pathway should be included in future pan-Arctic assessments of pond methane emissions. |
format |
Text |
author |
Rehder, Zoé Kleinen, Thomas Kutzbach, Lars Stepanenko, Victor Langer, Moritz Brovkin, Victor |
spellingShingle |
Rehder, Zoé Kleinen, Thomas Kutzbach, Lars Stepanenko, Victor Langer, Moritz Brovkin, Victor Simulated methane emissions from Arctic ponds are highly sensitive to warming |
author_facet |
Rehder, Zoé Kleinen, Thomas Kutzbach, Lars Stepanenko, Victor Langer, Moritz Brovkin, Victor |
author_sort |
Rehder, Zoé |
title |
Simulated methane emissions from Arctic ponds are highly sensitive to warming |
title_short |
Simulated methane emissions from Arctic ponds are highly sensitive to warming |
title_full |
Simulated methane emissions from Arctic ponds are highly sensitive to warming |
title_fullStr |
Simulated methane emissions from Arctic ponds are highly sensitive to warming |
title_full_unstemmed |
Simulated methane emissions from Arctic ponds are highly sensitive to warming |
title_sort |
simulated methane emissions from arctic ponds are highly sensitive to warming |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2837-2023 https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/20/2837/2023/ |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Tundra Siberia |
genre_facet |
Arctic Tundra Siberia |
op_source |
eISSN: 1726-4189 |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/bg-20-2837-2023 https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/20/2837/2023/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2837-2023 |
container_title |
Biogeosciences |
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20 |
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14 |
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2837 |
op_container_end_page |
2855 |
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1774292558546993152 |