Abstract
The Pantanal is the largest wetland in the world and yet little is known about the variability in carbon (C) dynamics across its flood seasons. We examined the effect of inundation on the C cycle in the 2013–2015 flood cycles illustrated by dissolved CO2, CH4, organic C (DOC) concentration measurements, and optical properties of dissolved organic matter (DOM) evaluated by absorbance and fluorescence spectroscopy with parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC). During the 2015 flood cycle, pCO2 varied between 5973 and 14,292 μatm, with pCH4 concentrations ranging between 2956 and 51,675 μatm respectively, with high temporal variability for both gases. The supersaturation of CO2 and CH4 in relation to the atmospheric equilibrium caused the system to behave as a net source of CO2 and CH4 to the atmosphere with evasion rates of 320 mg CO2 m−2 d−1 and 20 mg CH4 m−2 d−1, respectively. Mean DOC concentration was 7.0 ± 0.4 mg L−1 and did not differ between flood cycles. Higher concentrations of DOC were measured at the start (rising floodwaters) and at the end (receding floodwaters) of flood cycles, while lower DOC concentrations were observed during the peak flood. The PARAFAC analysis indicated the presence of five DOM components: humic (C1 and C2) and fulvic type material (C3) showed the highest relative abundance (68.5% of the total PARAFAC component fluorescence), as well as protein-like material (C4 and C5) derived from microorganisms. Our measured diffusive flux levels were below the range of emissions found for wetlands and floodplains for CO2, but were slightly higher for CH4 relative to other studies in lakes and seasonally flooded areas of the Pantanal. The large variations in concentrations of CO2, CH4 and DOC and the optical properties of DOM during the course of each flood cycle suggest a close relationship between carbon and water cycles in this tropical wetland.
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Acknowledgements
This work constitutes a contribution to the project entitled “Carbon and ecohydrology of Mato Grosso ecosystems and agroecosystems” funded by the Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) science mobilization program Science without Borders (2366/2012 to EGC and MSJ) with complementary funding through the CAPES Postdoctoral Fellowship (017/2012) to HJD). Additional support was provided by the National Institute for Science and Technology in Wetlands (INCT-INAU), funded by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development and the Ministry of Science and Technology (CNPq 573990/2008-5) as well as CNPq project 457824/2013-1 approved by call number 68/2013 MCTI/CNPq/FNDCT—Ac. Cross-sectional/LBA. We also thank CNPq through grant DTI-2 383389/2013-5 to MJL. We are greatly thankful for the laboratory space provided by Francisco de Almeida Lobo and Carmen Eugenia Rodríguez Ortíz from the Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT), as well as the logistics and transportation support of Ricardo Santos Amorim, Suzana Souza dos Santos, and the staff at the SESC-Pantanal and UFMT’s advanced research base (Base Avançada, Baia das Pedras).
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Dalmagro, H.J., Lathuillière, M.J., Hawthorne, I. et al. Carbon biogeochemistry of a flooded Pantanal forest over three annual flood cycles. Biogeochemistry 139, 1–18 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-018-0450-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-018-0450-1