Forest ecosystem changes from annual methane source to sink depending on late summer water balance

Julie K. Shoemaker; Trevor F. Keenan; David Y. Hollinger; Andrew D. Richardson

doi:10.1002/2013GL058691

Forest ecosystem changes from annual methane source to sink depending on late summer water balance

Julie K. Shoemaker^*, Trevor F. Keenan, David Y. Hollinger, Andrew D. Richardson

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

42 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Forests dominate the global carbon cycle, but their role in methane (CH₄) biogeochemistry remains uncertain. We analyzed whole-ecosystem CH₄ fluxes from 2 years, obtained over a lowland evergreen forest in Maine, USA. Gross primary productivity provided the strongest correlation with the CH₄ flux in both years, with an additional significant effect of soil moisture in the second, drier year. This forest was a neutral to net source of CH₄ in 2011 and a small net sink in 2012. Interannual variability in the summer hydrologic cycle apparently shifts the ecosystem from being a net source to a sink for CH₄. The small magnitude of the CH₄ fluxes and observed control or CH₄ fluxes by forest productivity and summer precipitation provide novel insight into the CH₄ cycle in this globally important forest ecosystem.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	673-679
Number of pages	7
Journal	Geophysical Research Letters
Volume	41
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/2013GL058691
Publication status	Published - 28 Jan 2014

Keywords

carbon
climate
forests
methane
models

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10.1002/2013GL058691

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title = "Forest ecosystem changes from annual methane source to sink depending on late summer water balance",

abstract = "Forests dominate the global carbon cycle, but their role in methane (CH4) biogeochemistry remains uncertain. We analyzed whole-ecosystem CH4 fluxes from 2 years, obtained over a lowland evergreen forest in Maine, USA. Gross primary productivity provided the strongest correlation with the CH4 flux in both years, with an additional significant effect of soil moisture in the second, drier year. This forest was a neutral to net source of CH4 in 2011 and a small net sink in 2012. Interannual variability in the summer hydrologic cycle apparently shifts the ecosystem from being a net source to a sink for CH4. The small magnitude of the CH4 fluxes and observed control or CH4 fluxes by forest productivity and summer precipitation provide novel insight into the CH4 cycle in this globally important forest ecosystem.",

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author = "Shoemaker, {Julie K.} and Keenan, {Trevor F.} and Hollinger, {David Y.} and Richardson, {Andrew D.}",

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T1 - Forest ecosystem changes from annual methane source to sink depending on late summer water balance

AU - Shoemaker, Julie K.

AU - Keenan, Trevor F.

AU - Hollinger, David Y.

AU - Richardson, Andrew D.

PY - 2014/1/28

Y1 - 2014/1/28

N2 - Forests dominate the global carbon cycle, but their role in methane (CH4) biogeochemistry remains uncertain. We analyzed whole-ecosystem CH4 fluxes from 2 years, obtained over a lowland evergreen forest in Maine, USA. Gross primary productivity provided the strongest correlation with the CH4 flux in both years, with an additional significant effect of soil moisture in the second, drier year. This forest was a neutral to net source of CH4 in 2011 and a small net sink in 2012. Interannual variability in the summer hydrologic cycle apparently shifts the ecosystem from being a net source to a sink for CH4. The small magnitude of the CH4 fluxes and observed control or CH4 fluxes by forest productivity and summer precipitation provide novel insight into the CH4 cycle in this globally important forest ecosystem.

AB - Forests dominate the global carbon cycle, but their role in methane (CH4) biogeochemistry remains uncertain. We analyzed whole-ecosystem CH4 fluxes from 2 years, obtained over a lowland evergreen forest in Maine, USA. Gross primary productivity provided the strongest correlation with the CH4 flux in both years, with an additional significant effect of soil moisture in the second, drier year. This forest was a neutral to net source of CH4 in 2011 and a small net sink in 2012. Interannual variability in the summer hydrologic cycle apparently shifts the ecosystem from being a net source to a sink for CH4. The small magnitude of the CH4 fluxes and observed control or CH4 fluxes by forest productivity and summer precipitation provide novel insight into the CH4 cycle in this globally important forest ecosystem.

KW - carbon

KW - climate

KW - forests

KW - methane

KW - models

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JO - Geophysical Research Letters

JF - Geophysical Research Letters

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Forest ecosystem changes from annual methane source to sink depending on late summer water balance

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