Neotropical peatland methane emissions along a vegetation and biogeochemical gradient

Winton, R. Scott; Flanagan, Neal; Richardson, Curtis J.; Rinnan, ed., Riikka

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0187019

Title: Neotropical peatland methane emissions along a vegetation and biogeochemical gradient

Journal Article · Fri Oct 20 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · PLoS ONE

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0187019· OSTI ID:1400440

; Flanagan, Neal; Richardson, Curtis J.; Rinnan, ed., Riikka

Tropical wetlands are thought to be the most important source of interannual variability in atmospheric methane (CH₄) concentrations, yet sparse data prevents them from being incorporated into Earth system models. This problem is particularly pronounced in the neotropics where bottom-up models based on water table depth are incongruent with top-down inversion models suggesting unaccounted sinks or sources of CH₄. The newly documented vast areas of peatlands in the Amazon basin may account for an important unrecognized CH₄ source, but the hydrologic and biogeochemical controls of CH₄ dynamics from these systems remain poorly understood. We studied three zones of a peatland in Madre de Dios, Peru, to test whether CH₄ emissions and pore water concentrations varied with vegetation community, soil chemistry and proximity to groundwater sources. We found that the open-canopy herbaceous zone emitted roughly one-third as much CH₄ as the Mauritia flexuosa palm-dominated areas (4.7 ± 0.9 and 14.0 ± 2.4 mg CH₄ m^-2 h^-1, respectively). Emissions decreased with distance from groundwater discharge across the three sampling sites, and tracked changes in soil carbon chemistry, especially increased soil phenolics. Based on all available data, we calculate that neotropical peatlands contribute emissions of 43 ± 11.9 Tg CH₄ y^-1, however this estimate is subject to geographic bias and will need revision once additional studies are published.

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Research Organization:: Duke Univ., Durham, NC (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0012272

OSTI ID:: 1400440

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1499886

Journal Information:: PLoS ONE, Journal Name: PLoS ONE Vol. 12 Journal Issue: 10; ISSN 1932-6203

Publisher:: Public Library of ScienceCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Citation Metrics:

Cited by: 19 works

Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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