Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Methanogenesis in Arizona, USA dryland streams

  • Published:
Biogeochemistry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Methanogenesis was studied in five streams of central and southern Arizona by examining the distribution of methane in interstitial water and evasion of methane in three subsystems (hyporheic, parafluvial and bank sediments). In Sycamore Creek, the primary study site (studied during summer and early autumn), methane content of interstitial water exhibited a distinct spatial pattern. In hyporheic (sediments beneath the wetted channel) and parfluvial zones (active channel sediments lateral to the wetted channel), which were well oxygenated due to high hydrologic exchange with the surface stream and had little particulate organic matter (POM), interstitial methane concentration averaged only 0.03 mgCH4-C/L. Bank sediments (interface between the active channel and riparian zone), in contrast, which were typically vegetated, had high POM, low hydrologic exchange and concomitantly low dissolved oxygen levels, had interstitial concentration averaging 1.5 mgCH4-C/L. Methane emission from Sycamore Creek, similar to methane concentration, averaged only 3.7 mgCH4-C·m−2·d−1 from hyporheic and parafluvial zones as opposed to 170 mgCH4-C·m−2·d−1 from anoxic bank sediments. Methane in four additional streams sampled (one sampling date during late winter) was low and exhibited little spatial variation most likely due to cooler stream temperatures. Interstitial methane in parafluvial and bank sediments of all four streams ranged from only 0.005 to 0.1 mgCH4-C/L. Similarly methane evasion was also low from these streams varying from 0 to 5.7 mgCH4-C·m−2·d−1. The effects of organic matter and temperature on methanogenesis were further examined by experimentally manipulating POM and temperature in stoppered flasks filled with hyporheic sediments and stream water. Methane production significantly increased with all independent variables. Methane production is greatest in bank sediments that are relatively isolated hydrologically and lowest in hyporheic and parafluvial sediments that are interactive with the surface stream.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Baker-Blocker A, Donahue TM & Mancy KH (1977) Methane flux from wetland areas. Tellus 29: 245–250

    Google Scholar 

  • Boon PI (1991) Bacterial assemblages in rivers and billabongs of southeastern Australia. Microbial Ecology 22: 27–52

    Google Scholar 

  • Boon PI & Sorrell BK (1991) Biogeochemistry of billabong sediments. I. The effects of macrophytes. Freshwater Biol. 26: 209–226

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Busch DE & Fisher SG (1981) Metabolism of a desert stream. Freshwater Biol. 11: 301–307

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cappenberg TE (1974) Interrelations between sulfate-reducing and methane-producing bacteria in bottom deposits of a fresh-water lake. I. Field observations. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 40: 285–295

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chanton JP & Martens CS (1988) Seasonal variation in ebullitive flux and carbon isotopic composition of methane in a tidal freshwater estuary. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 2: 289–298

    Google Scholar 

  • Chanton JP, Martens CS & Kelly CA (1989) Gas transport from methane saturated, tidal freshwater and wetland sediment. Limnol. Oceanogr. 34: 807–819

    Google Scholar 

  • Chappellaz J, Barola JM, Raynaud D, Korotkevich YS & Lorius C (1990) Ice-core record of atmospheric methane over the past 160,000 years. Nature 345: 127–131

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cicerone RJ (1988) Methane linked to warming. Nature 334: 198

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crawford CS & Gosz JR (1982) Desert ecosystems: their resources in space and time. Environmental Conservation 9: 181–195

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crill PM, Bartlett KB, Harriss RC, Gorham E, Verry ES, Sebacher DI, Madzar L & Sanner W (1988) Methane flux from Minnesota Peatlands. Global Biochemical Cycles 2: 371–384

    Google Scholar 

  • Dahm CN, Carr DL & Coleman RL (1991) Anaerobic carbon cycling in stream ecosystems. Verh. Intemat. Verein. Limnol. 24: 1600–1604

    Google Scholar 

  • Delhomme JP (1978) Kriging in the Hydrosciences. Advances in Water Resources 1: 251–266

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Denmeade OT (1991) Sources and sinks of greenhouse gases in the soil-plant environment. Vegetatio 91: 73–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duff JH & Triska FJ (1990) Denitrification associated with stream periphyton: chamber estimates from undisrupted communities. J. Environ. Qual. 13: 514–518

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Englund E & Sparks A (1991) Geostatistical Environmental Assessment Software: User's Guide. United States Environmental Protection Agency, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

    Google Scholar 

  • Fisher SG, Gray LJ, Grimm NB & Busch DE (1992) Temporal succession in a desert stream ecosystem following flash flooding. Ecol. Monogr. 52: 92–110

    Google Scholar 

  • Graf WL (1988) Fluvial Processes in Dryland Rivers. Springer-Verlag, New York, New York, USA

    Google Scholar 

  • Grimm NB (1987) Nitrogen dynamics during succession in a desert steam. Ecology 68: 1157–1170

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grimm NB (1992) Implications of climate change for stream communities. In: Kareiva PM, Kingsolver JG & Huey RB(Eds) Biotic Interactions and Global Change (pp 293–314). Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, Massachusetts, USA

    Google Scholar 

  • Grimm NB & Fisher SG (1984) Exchange between interstitial and surface water. implications for stream metabolism and nutrient cycling. Hydrobiologia 111: 219–228

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harriss RC, Sebacher DI & Day FD, Jr. (1982) Methane flux in the Great Dismal Swamp. Nature 297: 673–674

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hendricks SP & White DS (1991) Physicochemical patterns within a hyporheic zone of a northern Michigan river, with comment on surface water pattern. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 48: 1645–1654

    Google Scholar 

  • Holmes RM, Fisher SG & Grimm NB (1994) Parafluvial nitrogen dynamics in a desert stream ecosystem. Journal of North American Benthological Society 13: 468–478

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holzapfel-Pschorn A, Conrad R & Seiler W (1985) Production, oxidation and emission of methane in rice paddies. FEMS Microbial Ecology 31: 343–351

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones JB, Jr., Fisher SG & Grimm NB (1995) Vertical hydrologic exchange and ecosystem metabolism in a Sonoran Desert stream. Ecology 76: 942–952

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones JB,Jr., Holmes RM, Fisher SG & Grimm NB (1994) Chemoautotrophic production and respiration in the hyporheic zone of a Sonoran Desert stream. In: Stanford JA & Valett HM(Eds) Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Ground Water Ecology (pp 329–338). American Water Resources Association, Herndon, Virginia, USA

    Google Scholar 

  • Journal AG & Huijbregts CH (1978) Mining Geostatistics. Academic Press, London, England

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelly CA & Chynoweth DP (1981) The contributions of temperature and of the input of organic matter in controlling rates of sediment methanogenesis. Limnol. Oceanogr. 26: 891–897

    Google Scholar 

  • King GM & Wiebe JW (1978) Methane release from soils of a Georgia salt marsh. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 42: 343–348

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kristjansson JK, Shönheit P & Thauer RK (1982) Different K3 values for hydrogen of methanogenic bacteria and sulfate reducing bacteria: an explanation for the apparent inhibition of methanogenesis by sulfate. Arch. Microbiol. 131: 278–282

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levine JS (1992) Global Climate Change. In: Firth P & Fisher SG(Eds) Global Climate Change and Freshwater Ecosystems (pp 1–25). Springer-Verlag, New York, New York, USA

    Google Scholar 

  • Lovley DR & Klug MJ (1982) Intermediary metabolism of organic matter in the sediments of a eutrophic lake. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 43: 552–560

    Google Scholar 

  • Lovley DR & Klug MJ (1983) Sulfate reducers can outcompete methanogens at freshwater sulfate concentrations. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 45: 187–192

    Google Scholar 

  • Lovley DR & Klug MJ (1986) Model for the distribution of sulfate reduction and methanogenesis in freshwater sediments. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 50: 11–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matthias AD, Blackmer AM & Bremner JM (1980) A simple chamber technique for field measurements of emission of nitrous oxide from soils. J. Environ. Qual 9: 251–256

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Megraw SR & Knowles R (1987) Methane production and consumption in a cultivated humisol. Biology and Fertility of Soils 5: 56–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Menzel DW & Vaccaro FR (1964) The measurement of dissolved and particulate organic carbon in seawater. Limnol. Oceanogr. 9: 138–142

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Molongoski JJ & Klug MJ (1980) Anaerobic metabolism of particulate organic matter in the sediment of a hypereutrophic lake. Freshwater Biol. 10: 507–518

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Naiman RJ, Manning T & Johnston CA (1991) Beaverpopulation fluctuations and tropospheric methane emissions in boreal wetlands. Biogeochemistry 12: 1–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oremland RS (1988) Biogeochemistry of methane production. In: Zehnder AJB(Ed) Biology of anaerobic microorganisms (pp 641–705). John Wiley and Sons Publishers, New York, New York, USA

    Google Scholar 

  • Pulliam WM (1993) Carbon dioxide and methane exports from a southeastern floodplain swamp. Ecol. Monogr. 63: 29–53

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rasmussen RA & Khalil MAK (1984) Atmospheric methane in the recent and ancient atmospheres: concentrations, trends, and interhemispheric gradient. J. Geophys. Res. 89: 11599–11605

    Google Scholar 

  • Reeburgh WS & Heggie DT (1977) Microbial methane consumption reactions and their effect on methane distributions in freshwater and marine environments. Limnol. Oceanogr. 22: 1–9

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodhe H (1990) A comparison of the contribution of various gases to the greenhouse effect. Science 248: 1217–1219

    Google Scholar 

  • Sorensen J, Christensen D & Jorgensen BB (1981) Volatile fatty acids and hydrogen as substrates for sulfate-reducing bacteria in anaerobic marine sediments. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 42: 5–11

    Google Scholar 

  • Sorrell BK & Boon PI (1992) Biogeochemistry of billabong sediments. II. seasonal variations in methane production. Freshwater Biol. 27: 435–445

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stanley EH & Boulton AJ (1995) Hyporheic processes during flooding and drying in a Sonoran Desert stream. I. Hydrologic and chemical dynamics. Arch. Hydrobiol. 134: 1–26

    Google Scholar 

  • Steele LP, Dlugokencky EJ, Lang PM, Martin RC & Masarie KA (1992) Slowing down of the global accumulation of atmospheric methane during the 1980s. Nature 358: 313–316

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stookey LL (1970) Ferrozine: a new spectrophotometric reagent for iron. Anal. Chem. 42: 779–781

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomsen BW & Schumann HH (1968) Water resources of the Sycamore Creek watershed, Maricopa County, Arizona. U. S. Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 1861

  • Valett HM (1993) Surface-hyporheic interactions in a Sonora Desert stream: hydrologic exchange and diel periodicity. Hydrobiologia 259: 133–144

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Valett HM, Fisher SG & Stanley EH (1990) Physical and chemical characteristics of the hyporheic zone of a Sonoran Desert stream. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 9: 201–215

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White DS (1990) Biological relationships to convective flow patterns within stream beds. Hydrobiologia 196: 149–158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whiticar MJ, Faber E & Schoell M (1986) Biogenic methane formation in marine and freshwater environments: CO2 reduction versus acetate fermentation - isotopic evidence. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 50: 693–709

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson L (1990) SYSTAT: The System for Statistics. SYSTAT, Inc., Evanston, Illinois, USA

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson JO, Crill PM, Bartlett KB, Sebacher DI, Harriss RC & Sass RL (1989) Seasonal variation of methane emissions from a temperate swamp. Biogeochemistry 8: 55–71

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winfrey WR & Zeikus JG (1977) Effect of sulfate on carbon and electron flow during microbial methanogenesis in freshwater sediments. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 33: 275–281

    Google Scholar 

  • Winfrey WR & Zeikus JG (1979) Anaerobic metabolism of immediate methane precursors in Lake Mendota. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 37: 244–253

    Google Scholar 

  • Yavitt JB, Downey DM, Lang GE & Sexstone AJ (1990) Methane consumption in two temperate forest soils. Biogeochemistry 9: 39–52

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yavitt JB, Lang GE & Downey DM (1988) Potential methane production and methane oxidation rates in peatland ecosystems of the Appalachian Mountains, United States. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 2: 253–268

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yavitt JB, Lang GE & Wieder RK (1987) Control of carbon mineralization to CH4 and CO2 in anaerobic, Sphagnum-derived peat from Big Run Bog, West Virginia. Biogeochemistry 4: 141–157

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zeikus JG & Winfrey MR (1976) Temperature limitation of methanogenesis in aquatic sediments. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 31: 99–107

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. Jeremy B. Jones Jr.

    Present address: Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, P.O. Box 2008, Bldg. 1506, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, 37831-6034, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, 85287-1501, USA

    Jeremy B. Jones Jr., Robert M. Holmes, Stuart G. Fisher, Nancy B. Grimm & Dena M. Greene

Authors
  1. Jeremy B. Jones Jr.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Robert M. Holmes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Stuart G. Fisher
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Nancy B. Grimm
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Dena M. Greene
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Jones, J.B., Holmes, R.M., Fisher, S.G. et al. Methanogenesis in Arizona, USA dryland streams. Biogeochemistry 31, 155–173 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00004047

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00004047

Key words

Search

Navigation