Methane Fluxes from Alpine Wetlands of Zoige Plateau in Relation to Water Regime and Vegetation under Two Scales

Abstract

Methane fluxes in alpine ecosystems remain insufficiently studied, especially in terms of the magnitude, temporal, and spatial patterns. To quantify the mean methane emission of alpine ecosystems, methane fluxes were measured among six ecosystems and microsites within each ecosystem at Zoige National Wetland Reserve. The average methane emission from Zoige Plateau was 2.25 mg CH 4 m −2 h −1

Rewetting Decreases Carbon Emissions from the Zoige Alpine Peatland on the Tibetan Plateau

“…As the water level rose from −50 cm to 0 cm, CH 4 emissions increased significantly [42], a finding that is consistent with the field results of the present study. Furthermore, observations at 11 different water levels also showed that, on a regional scale, water level was negatively correlated to CO 2 emissions and positively correlated to CH 4 emissions, as was also observed by Chen and co-workers in their landscape-scale study of the Zoige peatlands, in which they found that CH 4 flux greatly correlated to the standing water depth [10]. Conversely, Whalen and Reeburgh pointed out that the correlation coefficient between CH 4 flux and water level was very low [43].…”

“…The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that intense human activities have contributed to global and regional climate change by warming and changing precipitation patterns [10][11][12][13], and that peatland C balances are significantly related to climate variation and are also exceedingly sensitive to climate change [8]. Undisturbed peatlands are presently a sink of …”

Responses of peat carbon at different depths to simulated warming and oxidizing

“…High altitude areas where climate is sensitive to warming are experiencing a "much larger than average" increase in temperature (Knoblauch et al, 2013;Lee et al, 2012;Liu and Chen, 2000;Peng et al, 2014). Besides warming, water table drawdown is the other very important cause for the degradation of peatlands in recent decades on Zoige Plateau peatlands -one of the largest alpine peatlands in the world (Bai et al, 2013;Chen et al, 2010;Gao, 2006;Li et al, 2010). Water table drawdown may destroy the stable environment in peatlands, exposing the preserved carbon to aerobic (AE) environment (Oechel et al, 1998), and together with the optimum soil moisture creating an available environment for microbes (Serreze et al, 2000;Yan et al, 2014;Zimov et al, 2006).…”

Effects of nitrogen and sulfur deposition on CH4and N2O fluxes in high-altitude peatland soil under different water tables in the Tibetan Plateau

“…Several studies have recently examined the effects of water table on the CH 4 gas fluxes in peatland soils (Aerts and Ludwig 1997;Dinsmore et al 2009;Chen et al 2011b;Hou et al 2013). These studies have found that lowering the water table decreases CH 4 emission.…”

“…The peatland areas of the Tibetan Plateau are currently receiving elevated rates of atmospheric N and S deposition (Wang et al 2004;Liu et al 2011). Although several studies have investigated the greenhouse gases in the alpine peatlands of the Tibetan Plateau, the majority of these studies have only analyzed the effects of temporal-spatial variations and vegetation on CH 4 and N 2 O fluxes (Chen et al 2011a(Chen et al , 2011b. Investigations on the impact of N and S applications and their interactions with different water tables in the alpine peatland are insufficient.…”