Do beaver ponds increase methane emissions along Arctic tundra streams?
Beaver engineering in the Arctic tundra induces hydrologic and geomorphic changes that are favorable to methane (CH _4 ) production. Beaver-mediated methane emissions are driven by inundation of existing vegetation, conversion from lotic to lentic systems, accumulation of organic rich sediments, ele...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acde8e https://doaj.org/article/6935ed1c88f0433690500d3156c96c01 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:6935ed1c88f0433690500d3156c96c01 2023-09-05T13:16:40+02:00 Do beaver ponds increase methane emissions along Arctic tundra streams? Jason A Clark Ken D Tape Latha Baskaran Clayton Elder Charles Miller Kimberley Miner Jonathan A O’Donnell Benjamin M Jones 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acde8e https://doaj.org/article/6935ed1c88f0433690500d3156c96c01 EN eng IOP Publishing https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acde8e https://doaj.org/toc/1748-9326 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/acde8e 1748-9326 https://doaj.org/article/6935ed1c88f0433690500d3156c96c01 Environmental Research Letters, Vol 18, Iss 7, p 075004 (2023) permafrost methane beavers Arctic tundra climate change Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acde8e 2023-08-13T00:36:54Z Beaver engineering in the Arctic tundra induces hydrologic and geomorphic changes that are favorable to methane (CH _4 ) production. Beaver-mediated methane emissions are driven by inundation of existing vegetation, conversion from lotic to lentic systems, accumulation of organic rich sediments, elevated water tables, anaerobic conditions, and thawing permafrost. Ground-based measurements of CH _4 emissions from beaver ponds in permafrost landscapes are scarce, but hyperspectral remote sensing data (AVIRIS-NG) permit mapping of ‘hotspots’ thought to represent locations of high CH _4 emission. We surveyed a 429.5 km ^2 area in Northwestern Alaska using hyperspectral airborne imaging spectroscopy at ∼5 m pixel resolution (14.7 million observations) to examine spatial relationships between CH _4 hotspots and 118 beaver ponds. AVIRIS-NG CH _4 hotspots covered 0.539% (2.3 km ^2 ) of the study area, and were concentrated within 30 m of waterbodies. Comparing beaver ponds to all non-beaver waterbodies (including waterbodies >450 m from beaver-affected water), we found significantly greater CH _4 hotspot occurrences around beaver ponds, extending to a distance of 60 m. We found a 51% greater CH _4 hotspot occurrence ratio around beaver ponds relative to nearby non-beaver waterbodies. Dammed lake outlets showed no significant differences in CH _4 hotspot ratios compared to non-beaver lakes, likely due to little change in inundation extent. The enhancement in AVIRIS-NG CH _4 hotspots adjacent to beaver ponds is an example of a new disturbance regime, wrought by an ecosystem engineer, accelerating the effects of climate change in the Arctic. As beavers continue to expand into the Arctic and reshape lowland ecosystems, we expect continued wetland creation, permafrost thaw and alteration of the Arctic carbon cycle, as well as myriad physical and biological changes. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Climate change permafrost Tundra Alaska Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Beaver Ponds ENVELOPE(-57.841,-57.841,49.642,49.642) Dammed Lake ENVELOPE(-68.258,-68.258,68.496,68.496) Environmental Research Letters 18 7 075004 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
permafrost methane beavers Arctic tundra climate change Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 |
spellingShingle |
permafrost methane beavers Arctic tundra climate change Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 Jason A Clark Ken D Tape Latha Baskaran Clayton Elder Charles Miller Kimberley Miner Jonathan A O’Donnell Benjamin M Jones Do beaver ponds increase methane emissions along Arctic tundra streams? |
topic_facet |
permafrost methane beavers Arctic tundra climate change Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 |
description |
Beaver engineering in the Arctic tundra induces hydrologic and geomorphic changes that are favorable to methane (CH _4 ) production. Beaver-mediated methane emissions are driven by inundation of existing vegetation, conversion from lotic to lentic systems, accumulation of organic rich sediments, elevated water tables, anaerobic conditions, and thawing permafrost. Ground-based measurements of CH _4 emissions from beaver ponds in permafrost landscapes are scarce, but hyperspectral remote sensing data (AVIRIS-NG) permit mapping of ‘hotspots’ thought to represent locations of high CH _4 emission. We surveyed a 429.5 km ^2 area in Northwestern Alaska using hyperspectral airborne imaging spectroscopy at ∼5 m pixel resolution (14.7 million observations) to examine spatial relationships between CH _4 hotspots and 118 beaver ponds. AVIRIS-NG CH _4 hotspots covered 0.539% (2.3 km ^2 ) of the study area, and were concentrated within 30 m of waterbodies. Comparing beaver ponds to all non-beaver waterbodies (including waterbodies >450 m from beaver-affected water), we found significantly greater CH _4 hotspot occurrences around beaver ponds, extending to a distance of 60 m. We found a 51% greater CH _4 hotspot occurrence ratio around beaver ponds relative to nearby non-beaver waterbodies. Dammed lake outlets showed no significant differences in CH _4 hotspot ratios compared to non-beaver lakes, likely due to little change in inundation extent. The enhancement in AVIRIS-NG CH _4 hotspots adjacent to beaver ponds is an example of a new disturbance regime, wrought by an ecosystem engineer, accelerating the effects of climate change in the Arctic. As beavers continue to expand into the Arctic and reshape lowland ecosystems, we expect continued wetland creation, permafrost thaw and alteration of the Arctic carbon cycle, as well as myriad physical and biological changes. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jason A Clark Ken D Tape Latha Baskaran Clayton Elder Charles Miller Kimberley Miner Jonathan A O’Donnell Benjamin M Jones |
author_facet |
Jason A Clark Ken D Tape Latha Baskaran Clayton Elder Charles Miller Kimberley Miner Jonathan A O’Donnell Benjamin M Jones |
author_sort |
Jason A Clark |
title |
Do beaver ponds increase methane emissions along Arctic tundra streams? |
title_short |
Do beaver ponds increase methane emissions along Arctic tundra streams? |
title_full |
Do beaver ponds increase methane emissions along Arctic tundra streams? |
title_fullStr |
Do beaver ponds increase methane emissions along Arctic tundra streams? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Do beaver ponds increase methane emissions along Arctic tundra streams? |
title_sort |
do beaver ponds increase methane emissions along arctic tundra streams? |
publisher |
IOP Publishing |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acde8e https://doaj.org/article/6935ed1c88f0433690500d3156c96c01 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-57.841,-57.841,49.642,49.642) ENVELOPE(-68.258,-68.258,68.496,68.496) |
geographic |
Arctic Beaver Ponds Dammed Lake |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Beaver Ponds Dammed Lake |
genre |
Arctic Climate change permafrost Tundra Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change permafrost Tundra Alaska |
op_source |
Environmental Research Letters, Vol 18, Iss 7, p 075004 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acde8e https://doaj.org/toc/1748-9326 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/acde8e 1748-9326 https://doaj.org/article/6935ed1c88f0433690500d3156c96c01 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acde8e |
container_title |
Environmental Research Letters |
container_volume |
18 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
075004 |
_version_ |
1776198166506373120 |