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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 30, NO. 7, 1414, doi:10.1029/2002GL016848, 2003

Factors controlling large scale variations in methane emissions from wetlands

Torben R. Christensen

Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Analysis, GeoBiosphere Science Centre, Lund University, Sweden


Anna Ekberg

Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Analysis, GeoBiosphere Science Centre, Lund University, Sweden


Lena Ström

Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Analysis, GeoBiosphere Science Centre, Lund University, Sweden


Mihail Mastepanov

Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Analysis, GeoBiosphere Science Centre, Lund University, Sweden


Nicolai Panikov

Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Stevens Institute of Technology, New Jersey, USA


Mats Öquist

Department of Water and Environmental Studies, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden


Bo H. Svensson

Department of Water and Environmental Studies, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden


Hannu Nykänen

Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland


Pertti J. Martikainen

Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland


Hlynur Oskarsson

RALA - Agricultural Research Institute, Reykjavik, Iceland


Abstract

Global wetlands are, at estimate ranging 115–237 Tg CH4/yr, the largest single atmospheric source of the greenhouse gas methane (CH4). We present a dataset on CH4 flux rates totaling 12 measurement years at sites from Greenland, Iceland, Scandinavia and Siberia. We find that temperature and microbial substrate availability (expressed as the organic acid concentration in peat water) combined explain almost 100% of the variations in mean annual CH4 emissions. The temperature sensitivity of the CH4 emissions shown suggests a feedback mechanism on climate change that could validate incorporation in further developments of global circulation models.

Published 12 April 2003.

Index Terms: 0315 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Biosphere/atmosphere interactions; 1615 Global Change: Biogeochemical processes (4805); 1610 Global Change: Atmosphere (0315, 0325); 1890 Hydrology: Wetlands.

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Citation: Christensen, T. R., A. Ekberg, L. Ström, M. Mastepanov, N. Panikov, M. Öquist, B. H. Svensson, H. Nykänen, P. J. Martikainen, and H. Oskarsson (2003), Factors controlling large scale variations in methane emissions from wetlands, Geophys. Res. Lett., 30(7), 1414, doi:10.1029/2002GL016848.