Factors controlling large scale variations in methane emissions from wetlands

2003/04/01 by Torben R. Christensen, Anna Ekberg, Lena Ström +7 · 7 citations
Environmental Science · Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Peatlands and Wetlands Ecology #Geology and Paleoclimatology Research #Atmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics

paper · doi:10.1029/2002gl016848

openalex publication_date 2003/04/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30

Abstract

Global wetlands are, at estimate ranging 115–237 Tg CH 4 /yr, the largest single atmospheric source of the greenhouse gas methane (CH 4 ). We present a dataset on CH 4 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 CH 4 emissions. The temperature sensitivity of the CH 4 emissions shown suggests a feedback mechanism on climate change that could validate incorporation in further developments of global circulation models.

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• High-resolution carbon isotope records of the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event (Early Jurassic) from North America and implications for the global drivers of the Toarcian carbon cycle
• Carbon Storage and Fluxes within Freshwater Wetlands: a Critical Review
• Peatlands in the Earth’s 21st century climate system
• Short‐term response of methane fluxes and methanogen activity to water table and soil warming manipulations in an Alaskan peatland
• Precise timing and characterization of abrupt climate change 8200 years ago from air trapped in polar ice
• Greenhouse gas emissions from wetlands [wikipedia]
• Wetland [wikipedia]