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Potential Methane Production Associated with Aquatic Macrophytes Detritus in a Tropical Coastal Lagoon

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Abstract

Anaerobic decomposition of aquatic macrophytes in the sediment of wetlands is a key source of methane to the atmosphere. An experiment was conducted in order to evaluate the potential methane production (PMP) in the sediment colonized by three species of aquatic macrophytes and in the limnetic region of a tropical coastal lagoon. The incubations were prepared and maintained (70 days) at 25.0 °C, and the PMP was measured by gas chromatography. The initial concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), carbohydrates and methane in the sediment were also measured. The sediment colonized by emergent aquatic macrophytes showed higher PMP due to the higher amounts of carbohydrates. On the other hand, PMP was lower in the limnetic region, which showed lower amounts of carbohydrates. The carbon found in the limnetic region is mainly originated from the refractory detritus of aquatic macrophytes that reaches the central region of the lagoon, with lower carbohydrate content. These results indicate that detritus quality, which means highest concentration of carbohydrates in the DOC, was the main controlling factor of methanogenesis.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) for financial support. We also thank the two anonymous reviewers for their careful reading of our manuscript and their many insightful comments and suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Rio de Janeiro, Rua Professor Carlos Wenceslau, 343, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, CEP: 21715-000

    André Luiz dos Santos Fonseca

  2. Laboratório de Limnologia, Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Avenida Brigadeiro Trompowski, s/n, Cidade Universitária, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, CEP: 21941-540

    Claudio Cardoso Marinho & Francisco de Assis Esteves

  3. Núcleo em Ecologia e Desenvolvimento Sócio Ambiental de Macaé, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Av. São José do Barreto, 764, Barreto, Macaé, Rio de janeiro, Brazil, CEP: 27965-045

    Francisco de Assis Esteves

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  1. André Luiz dos Santos Fonseca
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Correspondence to André Luiz dos Santos Fonseca.

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dos Santos Fonseca, A.L., Marinho, C.C. & de Assis Esteves, F. Potential Methane Production Associated with Aquatic Macrophytes Detritus in a Tropical Coastal Lagoon. Wetlands 37, 763–771 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-017-0912-6

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