Canadian Forest Service Publications
Climate-driven shifts in sediment chemistry enhance methane production in northern lakes. 2018. Emilson, E.J.S.; Carson, M.A.; Yakimovich, K.M.; Osterholz, H.; Dittmar, T.; Gunn, J.M.; Mykytczuk, N.C.S.; Basiliko, N.; Tatentzap, A.J. Nature Communications 9, 1801: 6p.
Year: 2018
Issued by: Great Lakes Forestry Centre
Catalog ID: 39164
Language: English
Availability: PDF (download)
Available from the Journal's Web site. †
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-04236-2
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Plain Language Summary
Freshwater ecosystems are a major source of methane (CH4), contributing 0.65 Pg (in CO2 equivalents) yr-1 towards global carbon emissions and offsetting ~25% of the terrestrial carbon sink. Most CH4 emissions come from littoral sediments, where large quantities of forest-derived and aquatic plant material are decomposed. Climate change is predicted to shift plant community composition, and thus change the quality of inputs into detrital food webs, with the potential to affect CH4 production. We find that variation in phenol availability from decomposing organic matter underlies large differences in CH4 production in lake sediments. Production was at least 400-times higher from sediments composed of macrophyte litter compared to forest sources because of inhibition of methanogenesis by phenol leachates. Forest-derived plant litter thus has the potential to suppress methanogenesis in lake sediments. Our results now suggest that earth system models and carbon budgets should consider the effects of plant communities on sediment chemistry and ultimately CH4 emissions at a global scale.
