Integrating Beaver Ponds into the Carbon Emission Budget of Boreal Aquatic Networks: A Case Study at the Watershed Scale

Smufer, Facundo; Casas-Ruiz, Joan Pere; St-Pierre, Annick; Giorgio, Paul A. del

doi:10.1007/s10021-023-00835-3

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

References 70 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Whitfield et al [26] estimated that the resurgence and introduction of beavers since 1900 accounted for emission of 0.18-0.80 Tg CH 4 yr −1 in 2000, a 200-fold increase from unengineered streams in 1900. A study from the boreal forest of Quebec found that beaver ponds were responsible for emitting 18% of the total CH 4 flux [54]. The high uncertainty on existing estimates of beaver pond CH 4 fluxes is partly due to the difficulty of monitoring CH 4 fluxes in-situ or remotely and the challenges of extrapolating spatially and temporally limited samples.…”

Section: Beaver Engineering and Ch 4 In Non-permafrost Ecosystemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do beaver ponds increase methane emissions along Arctic tundra streams?

Clark

Tape

Baskaran

et al. 2023

Environ. Res. Lett.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Beaver engineering in the Arctic tundra induces hydrologic and geomorphic changes that are favorable to methane (CH4) 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 CH4 emissions from beaver ponds in permafrost landscapes are scarce, but hyperspectral remote sensing data permit mapping of ‘hotspots’ thought to represent locations of high CH4 emission. We surveyed a 429.5km2 area in Northwestern Alaska using hyperspectral airborne imaging spectroscopy at ~5m pixel resolution (14.7 million observations) to examine spatial relationships between CH4 hotspots and 118 beaver ponds. AVIRIS-NG CH4 hotspots covered 0.539% (2.3km2) of the study area, and were concentrated within 30m of waterbodies. Comparing beaver ponds to all non-beaver waterbodies (including waterbodies >450m from beaver-affected water), we found significantly greater CH4 hotspot occurrences around beaver ponds, extending to a distance of 60m. We found a 51% greater CH4 hotspot occurrence ratio around beaver ponds relative to nearby non-beaver waterbodies. Dammed lake outlets showed no significant differences in CH4 hotspot ratios compared to non-beaver lakes, likely due to little change in inundation extent. The enhancement in AVIRIS-NG CH4 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.

show abstract

Section: Beaver Engineering and Ch 4 In Non-permafrost Ecosystemsmentioning

confidence: 99%