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A Small Nimble In Situ Fine-Scale Flux Method for Measuring Tree Stem Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Processes (S.N.I.F.F)

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Abstract

Tree stem methane emissions are gaining increasing attention as an overlooked atmospheric source pathway. Existing methods for measuring tree stem greenhouse gas fluxes and isotopes may provide robust integrated emission estimates, but due to their coarse resolution, the capacity to derive insights into fine-scale dynamics of tree stem emissions is limited. We demonstrate and field test an alternative method that is Small, Nimble, In situ and allows for Fine-scale Flux (‘SNIFF’) measurements, on complex and contrasting stem surfaces. It is lightweight and therefore suitable to remote field locations enabling real-time data observations allowing for field-based, data driven sampling regimes. This method facilitated novel results capturing fine-scale vertical and radial methane flux measurements (5 cm increments) and revealed: (1) 86–89% of methane emissions emanated from the lower 30 cm of sampled wetland tree species; (2) clear vertical and horizontal trends in δ13C-CH4 possibly due to fractionation associated with oxidation and/or mass-dependant fractionation during diffusive transport; and (3) the occurrence of substantial radial heterogeneity. We also compared a variety of up-scaling approaches to estimate methane flux per tree, including novel smartphone 3D photogrammetry that resulted in substantially higher stem surface area estimations (> 16 to 36%) than traditional empirical methods. Utilising small chambers with high radial and vertical resolution capabilities may therefore facilitate more robust future assessments into the drivers, pathways, oxidation sinks and magnitude of tree stem greenhouse gas emissions, and compliment previous broad-scale sampling techniques.

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Data Availability

Data used for the composition of this paper can be obtained from https://doi.org/10.17632/x2sf762mhj.1 (Jeffrey 2020).

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by funding from the Australian Research Council (LP160100061 and DP180101285). DRT and DTM acknowledge support from the Australian Research Council that partially funds their salaries (DE180100535 and DE150100581, respectively). We thank Dr. Roland Fuß for creating and permission to share the R script, and Bob McDonnell, Roz Hagan and MidCoast Council for fieldwork assistance. We also thank Dr. Patrick Megonigal, one anonymous reviewer and the AE for their constructive comments that helped strengthen the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. SCU Geoscience, Southern Cross University, PO Box 157, Lismore, New South Wales, 2480, Australia

    Luke C. Jeffrey, Damien T. Maher, Douglas R. Tait & Scott G. Johnston

  2. School of Environment, Science and Engineering, Southern Cross University, PO Box 157, Lismore, New South Wales, 2480, Australia

    Damien T. Maher

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  1. Luke C. Jeffrey
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Correspondence to Luke C. Jeffrey.

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Author Contributions

LJ & SJ designed the study; LJ, DM & SJ performed the research; all authors contributed to data analysis and methods development; LJ wrote the first draft and all authors contributed to the final manuscript.

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Jeffrey, L.C., Maher, D.T., Tait, D.R. et al. A Small Nimble In Situ Fine-Scale Flux Method for Measuring Tree Stem Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Processes (S.N.I.F.F). Ecosystems 23, 1676–1689 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-020-00496-6

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