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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - The importance of plants for methane emission at the ecosystem scale
AU - Bastviken, D.
AU - Treat, C.C.
AU - Pangala, S.R.
AU - Gauci, V.
AU - Enrich-Prast, A.
AU - Karlson, M.
AU - Gålfalk, M.
AU - Romano, M.B.
AU - Sawakuchi, H.O.
PY - 2023/1/30
Y1 - 2023/1/30
N2 - Methane (CH4), one of the key long-lived atmospheric greenhouse gases, is primarily produced from organic matter. Accordingly, net primary production of organic matter sets the boundaries for CH4 emissions. Plants, being dominant primary producers, are thereby indirectly sustaining most global CH4 emissions, albeit with delays in time and with spatial offsets between plant primary production and subsequent CH4 emission. In addition, plant communities can enhance or hamper ecosystem production, oxidation, and transport of CH4 in multiple ways, e.g., by shaping carbon, nutrient, and redox gradients, and by representing a physical link between zones with extensive CH4 production in anoxic sediments or soils and the atmosphere. This review focuses on how plants and other primary producers influence CH4 emissions with the consequences at ecosystem scales. We outline mechanisms of interactions and discuss flux regulation, quantification, and knowledge gaps across multiple ecosystem examples. Some recently proposed plant-related ecosystem CH4 fluxes are difficult to reconcile with the global atmospheric CH4 budget and the enigmas related to these fluxes are highlighted. Overall, ecosystem CH4 emissions are strongly linked to primary producer communities, directly or indirectly, and properly quantifying magnitudes and regulation of these links are key to predicting future CH4 emissions in a rapidly changing world. © 2022 The Authors
AB - Methane (CH4), one of the key long-lived atmospheric greenhouse gases, is primarily produced from organic matter. Accordingly, net primary production of organic matter sets the boundaries for CH4 emissions. Plants, being dominant primary producers, are thereby indirectly sustaining most global CH4 emissions, albeit with delays in time and with spatial offsets between plant primary production and subsequent CH4 emission. In addition, plant communities can enhance or hamper ecosystem production, oxidation, and transport of CH4 in multiple ways, e.g., by shaping carbon, nutrient, and redox gradients, and by representing a physical link between zones with extensive CH4 production in anoxic sediments or soils and the atmosphere. This review focuses on how plants and other primary producers influence CH4 emissions with the consequences at ecosystem scales. We outline mechanisms of interactions and discuss flux regulation, quantification, and knowledge gaps across multiple ecosystem examples. Some recently proposed plant-related ecosystem CH4 fluxes are difficult to reconcile with the global atmospheric CH4 budget and the enigmas related to these fluxes are highlighted. Overall, ecosystem CH4 emissions are strongly linked to primary producer communities, directly or indirectly, and properly quantifying magnitudes and regulation of these links are key to predicting future CH4 emissions in a rapidly changing world. © 2022 The Authors
KW - Ecosystem
KW - Greenhouse gas flux
KW - Methane
KW - Plants
KW - Primary producers
KW - Vegetation
U2 - 10.1016/j.aquabot.2022.103596
DO - 10.1016/j.aquabot.2022.103596
M3 - Journal article
VL - 184
JO - Aquatic Botany
JF - Aquatic Botany
SN - 0304-3770
M1 - 103596
ER -