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Spatial and temporal variations of the greenhouse gas emissions in coastal saline wetlands in southeastern China

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Abstract

Coastal wetlands are crucial to global climate change due to their roles in modulating atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs) (CO2, CH4, N2O). Under a warming climate, we investigated spatial and temporal variations of GHGs emissions over the coastal wetlands in southeastern China during 2012–2014. Five dominant land cover types in coastal wetlands have been considered, including the bare mud flat (BF), the Spartina alterniflora flats (SAF), the Suaeda glauca flats (SGF), the Phragmites australis flat (PAF), and the Scripus triqueter flat (STF). The results showed that the annual average CO2 fluxes were 305.8, 588.8, 370.2, and 136.5 mg m−2 h−1 from spring to winter. CH4 fluxes presented to be a sink in spring (− 0.02 mg m−2 h−1), and functioned as a source in the following seasons. Correlation analysis indicated that the surface air temperature and the cumulative precipitation could be two main factors that influenced the seasonal and inter-annual variations of GHGs emissions. In addition, we provided a regional budget of GHGs emissions that suggested the variations of GHGs emissions under a warming climate.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Chief Editor and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments.

Funding

This work is partially supported by the National Key Research and Invention Program of the Thirteenth (2017YFC0504702); the National Natural Science Funds of China (No. 4151260, No. 41977061, No. 41771220); the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (GK201803047, GK201903071).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geography and Tourism, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an, 710119, China

    Liguo Cao & Zhengchao Zhou

  2. School of Geographic and Oceanographic Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Xinwanghao Xu

  3. Key Laboratory of State Forestry and Grassland Administration on Forest Ecosystem Protection and Restoration of Poyang Lake Watershed, College of Forestry, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, 330045, China

    Fuxi Shi

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  1. Liguo Cao
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Correspondence to Liguo Cao or Zhengchao Zhou.

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Cao, L., Zhou, Z., Xu, X. et al. Spatial and temporal variations of the greenhouse gas emissions in coastal saline wetlands in southeastern China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 1118–1130 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-06951-9

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